Everything's an Illusion
by DarkLordBervin
Summary: Having grown up with no one but himself to care for him, he's always had his independence and intelligence to depend on. With no prior knowledge of magic Harry enters the wizarding world brimming with wonder and hope. Epic Length, Cold, Independent, and Cunning. Pairings won't show up until much later most likely the 4th or 5th year.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or its character, those belong to J.K. Rowling.

Everything's An Illusion

Chapter 1

With a tied score entering the final couple of minutes, the last few possessions will decide whether this game will go into extra time or end with a win. A boy dressed in orange and white sport shorts shirt tucked in and knee high socks similar to his other team mates received a pass from the goal keeper to his position in the midfield.

It wasn't the greatest of passes, as they were only barely eleven years old, but the boy seemed to effortlessly move with grace to make a wide pass seem like a clean find. Stopping the ball with his left foot he scanned the field for any defenders willing to leave their position to oppose him. Like a king in a chessboard he moved with the sole intention to get his knights within striking position.

A few dribbles forward did the trick as a defender hesitated between defending him and his man. Not giving him a chance to make the decision for himself the boy kicked the ball a little farther to bait the defender into thinking he lost control of his dribble. As the defender moved closer, the boy moved to turn left, drawing the defender even closer, but at the last moment stepped over the ball to turn right allowing him to shake the defender off.

With an opponent beat and his forward successfully open for a clear shot, the boy passed the ball with clean precision and accuracy between two outstretched legs to find his knight. With the goalie left and only a few meters between them it was inevitable that with one crisp kick, the ball flew past the goal defender, hitting nothing but the back of the net.

The moment of stunned silence ceased as parents, siblings and players of Highbury United alike, erupted into loud cheers. The game was practically over now! That had to have been the last play! The tin ceiling of the underground arena rumbled as the cheering, stamping and screaming of the onlookers shook the very foundations of the small shed like arena they were all crowded into shield themselves from the cold. Finally, allowing a small smile to appear on his face, Harry ran down the field to play his position while the rest of his team mates celebrated their inevitable win.

Sitting on his bed with closed eyes, exhausted from the game, Harry sat in silence until he was needed to make dinner. These few moments he had to himself for relaxation were precious as they were usually short lived.

After a few more minutes Harry sat up on his bed knowing he needed to start dinner soon or else the Dursleys would be home before he finished. Walking out from the cupboard under the stairs Harry made his way to the kitchen to get out the ham that he was planning to cook. Having cooked for the Dursleys for the past couple of years Harry had grown accustom to these measly tasks. Within the hour Harry was able to make a suitable dinner of honey baked ham with mashed potato's and corn.

Taking a slice, and a good chunk of ham, mashed potato and corn, Harry took his plate filled with food to his room. Eating his food in silence, Harry heard the opening of the front door signaling that the Dursleys have returned from the zoo. It was one of many presents that Dudley, his cousin, received this year.

"But mum! I want another present!" Harry heard his cousin complain. "The zoo was just dumb! The stupid snake didn't even move."

Harry couldn't help but glare at his half eaten plate of food. It was so irritating to hear his cousin complain about the things that he received each year.

"Oh hush now pumpkin, lets go eat dinner and we'll talk about what you want later." Petunia Dursley ushered her son into the dining room where the food was already set up.

Closing his eyes to relax Harry went back to eating his dinner. It's not like his life with the Dursleys were that bad now. If he stood out of their way and did chores every now and then they would stay out of his way. It wasn't the ideal way to live but it sufficed and there really wasn't anything he could do. To them he was nothing but a freak.

Finishing up his dinner, he went back to bed and got a book out. Ever since he was little Harry had always enjoyed reading books, it was his escape from reality. For a few precious hours he could become anyone but Harry James Potter and escape to a world unseen.

Harry learned early in his life that hiding his intellect from others did nothing but hinder his growth. There are very few things that Harry had in his life and he wasn't about to give it up for anyone. There was one saying that Harry always considered to be true above else, and that was that knowledge was power. With power Harry could eventually break away from the chains that were the Dursleys.

Reading for a few hours had Harry feeling very sleepy, considering he played a whole game today as well, it wasn't very unusual that he'd be tired. Closing his book and taking off his glasses to go to bed he got under the covers hoping that he would wake up earlier that the Dursleys so he could do the dishes.

"Boy, get out here now." The ever angry voice of Vernon bellowed from outside his door as it woke him up. Harry stayed where he was. He had forgotten to do the dishes. Of course, Vernon wouldn't be pleased, and it would probably lead to some more chores later on in the day.

"Boy, get out here now before I break your legs!"

Harry decided that Uncle Vernon had waited long enough and opened his door.

"It's about bloody time you opened that door boy." Giving his uncle a half glance Harry walked by nonchalantly, heading to the kitchen to wash the dishes that he never got to do the night before. "I want you to mow the lawn today, the grass is starting to get long. I will not have those bloody pricks next door talking about how our lawn is an embarrassment to the neighborhood."

"Yes sir, I'll have that done." Harry figured he'd have to mow the lawn sooner or later. The Dursleys really prided themselves with the fact they had one of the greener and nicer lawns in all of Privet Drive. Of course they would never dirty themselves with such trivial labor unfit for 'normal people' so he was left with the task of keeping it green.

Harry made his way into the kitchen. He grabbed several bowls and two pans from a cupboard, some eggs, milk, cheese and a butter stick from the fridge, and flour and sugar from the pantry. He turned on the stove, put the two pans on different burners, and cut a piece of the butter before placing a nice chunk on each pan. He started placing the ingredients in the bowl, cracking the eggs and mixing in the flour and milk, adding the sugar and some butter.

He'd learned in these past years that cooking was one of the chores that he least hated. He didn't really mind it that much, and it was probably the only reasons he still made breakfast and dinner for the Dursleys when ever he was home.

Once he was positive there were no clumps in the batter he moved over to the pans, the butter had melted and he made sure to spread it out evenly over the surface. With that done, Harry got out another bowl, cracked a few eggs, added some salt and pepper, and whisked them enthusiastically.

Once the butter had melted and started to brown Harry poured the eggs into the frying pan and stirred it with the flat side of a fork. When the sides started to set, he lifted the side and pulled it into the center, repeating this until half of the eggs were set.

"Try not to burn them." A voice from behind him said. Turning around Harry saw that it was his Aunt.

"I wont." Harry said in a formal voice. He never really knew how to feel about his Aunt. At times it seems like she positively hated him but there were also times when she'd look at him with pity. She'd never really been terrible towards him but then again she never did try to help him either. At best she was indifferent about him, but even then she was nothing to him.

Giving him a stiff nod she sat down as Harry made her coffee. By the time his cousin and uncle arrived Harry was almost done making breakfast. Aunt Petunia was a thin blond woman with a long neck, who at times looked strangely like a horse. By comparison, her son Dudley, was a complete opposite. Dudley had the same blonde hair as his mother, but he had a large pink face. Not much neck, and small, watery blue eyes. Vernon Dursley was essentially a spitting image of his son, only older and bigger with a thick, walrus like mustache.

Finished cooking breakfast, Harry put the plates of pancakes and eggs on the table and was about to sit down and eat when they all heard the click of the mail slot and flop of letters on the doormat. Aunt Petunia was about to open her mouth to say something but Harry was already on his way to towards the mail knowing she wanted him to get it.

Seeing that there were four things laying on the doormat. One of them was a magazine that his aunt had subscribed to, a thick brown envelope that appeared to be a bill, a free coupon for the deli that just opened up a few streets down, and a letter.

A letter for _Harry Potter._

His eyes widened a little in surprise, he'd never received mail before. Looking it over it was thick and a little heavy, turning it around he saw a wax seal bearing the coat of arms of a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake surrounding a large letter _H _and above the seal was the same coat of arms with the word _Hogwarts _written just above it.

Harry quickly stuffed the letter down his pants knowing his Uncle would want to read it first and took the remaining letters to the kitchen and handed them over to his Uncle quietly.

Taking a seat on the table Harry noticed that Dudley had already finished a plate full of food and was in the process of filling it with a second helping. Seriously, the amount of food he ate was quite unhealthy. Recently he'd been learning how to box, it was a suggestion by one of the school councilors. They said it might be a good way for him to learn discipline and take out some aggression that he had built up. In Harry's opinion it was like throwing fuel on fire, kind of like giving an addict crack and saying 'now don't you go shooting this up, okay?'. It was just stupid and, truthfully, painful. He wasn't going to lie though, even if Dudley's only been boxing for a couple of weeks you could see he was a natural at it. Then again he'd been training all his life with Harry himself as the punching bag

Quickly scarfing down his plate of pancakes Harry excused himself and went into the garage to pick up the tools he needed and started to do his work.

It was a little past noon when Harry finished mowing the lawn. After he'd put everything away, he decided to take a rest on the freshly mown grass. Squinting up at the sun straight above him Harry couldn't help but notice that there was an owl standing on top of number 6 Privet Drive. This seemed quite unusual, as he read once that owls were more adapted to night time hunting. It was more than a little uncommon to see such a creature out in the daylight, specifically in a suburban neighborhood like Privet Drive. He had a strange foreboding, as he stared at the owl almost like something big was going to happen. He heard once that seeing an owl in the daytime was bad luck, so maybe something bad was going to happen.

Shifting, so he could wipe the sweat that was building up on his forehead, he felt something crinkle under him. The _letter_! Of course how could he have forgotten! Wide eyed he pulled out the letter from his back pocket to see the mysterious letter than was addressed to him.

**Mr. H. Potter**

**The Cupboard under the Stairs**

**4 Privet Drive**

**Little Whinging**

**Surrey**

He broke the seal and pulled out two thick pieces of parchments and began to read the contents of the letter.

**HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY**

Headmaster: ALBUS PERCIVAL WULFRIC BRIAN DUMBLEDORE (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorcerer, Chief Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confederation of wizards.)

Dear Mr. Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1st. We await your owl by no later than July 31st.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall,

Deputy Headmistress.

**HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY**

**UNIFORM**

First-year students will require:

1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)

2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear

3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags

**COURSE BOOKS**

All students should have a copy of each of the following:

The standard book of spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk

A history of magic by Bathilda Bagshot

Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling

A Beginners guide to Transfiguration by Emetic Switch

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore

Magical Drafts and Potions by Aresnius Jigger

Fantastic beasts and where to find then by Newt Scamander

The Dark Forces: A guide to self-protection by Quentin Trimble

**OTHER EQUIPMENT**

Wand

Cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)

Set glass or crystal phials

Telescope set

Brass scales

Students may also bring an owl or a cat or a toad.

**PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS.**

Yours sincerely,

Lucinda Thomsonicle-Pocus,

Chief Attendant of Witchcraft Provision.

'What a stupid joke' Harry thought.

This was obviously just a dumb prank that Dudley and his friends came up with to make fun of the _freak_. Crumbling up the piece of junk he stood up from the grass and went to throw away the letter but was stopped by a woo-ing. Looking up he saw that the same owl on top of number 6was flying towards him and landed on his shoulder.

In shock, Harry stood still with the crumpled up letter still in his hand. Then he remembered that the letter said to owl them back with his response. "This isn't actually true, is it?" Harry thought out loud. The owl on his shoulder hooted and bowed its head slightly as if to answer yes to his question.

"D-do you want me to write back?" Harry asked hesitantly feeling foolish that he was talking to a bird. The owl just bowed its head once again acting more intelligent than any bird should be capable of.

Numbly walking back into the house with the bird still upon his shoulder, Harry entered the kitchen to see that his Aunt Petunia was currently making some sandwiches for lunch.

"A-aunt Petunia" Harry said softly. She looked up from what she was doing only to see a scene that she never expected. Jaw dropped into a silent 'o' like shape with eyes wide she was rendered speechless.

"I got a letter today"

"W-what do you think you're doing bringing that _thing _inside here boy" Was her first response. It was very comical seeing her gape like a fish for a few seconds until she got herself composed enough to say something.

"I got a letter today, Aunt Petunia" I repeated, "I got a letter of acceptance from Hogwarts school of magic"

All the color in her face faded "Wh-what" she asked. "What are you talking about boy."

Hands fidgeting playing with her wedding ring on her left hand. She was nervous, he knew her enough to know that she was nervous about something.

"Aunt Petunia, I'm going to write back to them and get this all sorted out"

Walking away from his petrified Aunt, Harry entered his room and took out a piece of paper and a pen and wrote:

_Dear Professor McGonagall,_

_I received your letter, and although I am reluctant to believe magic to be more than just misdirection and slide of hand, I would be very happy to attend Hogwarts on the 1st of September, should magic be proven real to me._ _I would be glad if you could send someone over sometime in the near future so that we can discuss this further._

_Thanking you_

_Yours sincerely_

_Harry James Potter_

Rolling up the letter Harry tied it to the owl still on his shoulder which flew out his door, out the front door, and into the sky. He took a deep breath and counted to ten, feeling foolish but excited at the same time.

**Authors note:**

**Well this is my first fic and I plan on it to be a pretty long one. The next few chapters will probably be coming out fast in the next few days due to the combination of me still on break and the fact that it will probably just be an introductory to characters and the actual presentation of the wizarding world. So don't get too comfortable with a new chapter everyday. And thank you to munkeymaniac for Beta-ing this chapter! Very much appreciated for the work done!**

**Other than that I hope you guys enjoy!**

**Review and let me know what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or its character, those belong to J.K. Rowling.

Everything's An Illusion

Chapter 2

Minerva McGonagall was not amused what so ever. The letter she had just received from one Harry Potter was not something she expected at all. It was in her knowledge that he was to know that the magical world existed.

If the letter was true, and he never knew about their existence, then her problems just grew even more. Frustrated, and with steam practically coming out of her ears, she marched down to the one man that would have the answers to her questions.

Guarded by a stone gargoyle was the headmaster of Hogwarts.

"Albus! You will let me in this instant. You and I have much to discuss!" Now a calm Minerva was an intimidating figure in and of itself but when she was as heated as she was at the moment, it was just down right scary.

That's why the wise man that was Albus Dumbledore did not let her in right away. Hoping that she wouldn't blast away his gargoyle he kept her there for just a few minutes hoping that it would help calm her down a little bit. She would utterly destroy his office. He could, of course, put it all back together as good as new, but it would still take quite a while to reverse the effects of her destruction. Time which he did not have at the moment.

"Albus! I will count to three and should you not let me through, I swear on all that is magical that I will turn this forsaken gargoyle of yours into rubble."

Before she could finish counting to three the gargoyle moved allowing her passage into the headmasters office. Minerva practically bounded up the spiraling staircase, with the sole purpose of getting answers to her questions. She practically kicked down the door once she reached the top.

There sat Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, the peerless leader of light, the Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, and the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, a wise and powerful man. With eyes twinkling in an unusual amount of brightness underneath his half spectacle glasses, he looked nothing but a jolly old man. Looks can be deceiving of course.

"Ah, Minerva, to what do I owe the pleasure."

Calmly taking a deep breath, it would do neither of them any good should she come at him with a clouded mind.

"Albus I received a letter today from a student that will be coming this up coming school year."

Dumbledore smiled, indicating that she should continue.

"The letter was from Harry Potter."

With eyes still twinkling and the ever imprinted smile on his face, Albus opened his mouth to speak. "Ah, young master Harry Potter. It certainly sounds like the next few years in this castle will be a little more lively, if he's anything like his parents, don't you think?"

"Well yes, but no that's not the point." Her brows crinkled into a frown to show her annoyance at him for trying to getting her off track. "The point is Albus, he sent me an owl claiming to not know anything about magic!"

As she was about to open her mouth and keep going on her tirade, Albus opened his mouth as if to say something. She paused for a second to let his say what he had to say.

"Lemon drop?"

Dumbledore calmly opened a drawer and retrieved a bowl. He popped something into his mouth and then offered the bowl to his fuming Deputy Headmistress, still smiling of course.

To say that she was not amused was an understatement at this point. Her mouth opened and closed, speechless with no sound escaping her. All of a sudden smiling eerily, she suddenly sat down but the twitch in her hand towards her wand showed she was no where near calm. Plus the waves of magic radiating off of her helped to destroy that image of serenity.

"No thank you, Headmaster, but please look at this," She handed over the letter, the letter that Harry Potter had written to her. Dumbledore took it and raised his hand up to his half moon glasses to adjust them. As time passed the air around him grew morose. At the end he simply laid down the letter and closed his eyes. At that moment, he really looked like a broken man.

"Albus, are you alright?" She asked him tentatively, hands reading towards him slowly almost as if he'd break with contact.

"It seems my views on people are too bright for who they really are." The letter had dejected him severely. He knew that Petunia and Lily did not have the best relationship to begin with and that they way they ended things held no closure or happiness. When he sent young Harry Potter to live with his relatives he had hoped that they would provide him with the ideal home away from the spotlight of his fame. He silenced his misgivings even though he knew how Petunia felt about magic. He squashed the belief that anything could go wrong and that Petunia would do the right thing and raise her nephew in a way that Lily would.

"I had hoped that Petunia would have eventually told Harry about his heritage but it seems that my trust was misplaced."

His decision at the time might have been a little forced. Young Lily Potter had invoked an ancient magic, that night, which repelled the killing curse that Lord Voldemort had cast on baby Harry Potter. It was an old, yet powerful magic that he had once heard about but never believed it to be possible.

He always knew that Lily Potter was a very bright witch with a very bright future, alas that future was eradicated by the very one that she and her husband defied. It was miraculous that she was even capable of performing such strong magic. Not to make her death in vain, Dumbledore was tasked with the responsibility of keeping Harry Potter safe. With Lord Voldemort's followers still out in the open, free due to the gold they wielded, he made a hasty decision that he believed, at the time, to be the right one.

"Albus?" Minerva asked a little worried. Dumbledore would proceed to explain to her all his thoughts and mistakes upon one Harry Potter. Minerva McGonagall was definitely not amused what so ever.

Harry hadn't been able to sleep much last night, the thoughts of old warty women riding on brooms after they'd finished stirring their cauldron filled with eyes, guts, and other vile things for their potions plagued his mind.

It was just so hard to believe, he had spent all his life trying to be 'normal', as his relatives would say, and to all of a sudden have an owl on his lap, literally. On one hand he was absolutely giddy with excitement.

The prospect of wielding magic was amazing, like that man with a long grey beard and a staff while he went on an adventure with those little people, hobbits, if his memory of those books was correct.

It was one of the few movies that he was able to watch with the Dursleys and it was spectacular. Of course the Dursleys didn't quite enjoy it as much as him, but that was their narrow minded loss. Right after the movie he proceeded to find and read the book version. He wouldn't say it changed his life but it most certainly opened up his mind to more fantasy like subjects.

There was no use contemplating it any longer, whether or not magic was real he'd find out today either ways. It was probably almost time to get up already anyways. Standing up from his bed and stretching his back to get all the kinks out from that hard mattress, he went to make breakfast.

Walking towards the kitchen he saw on the big clock that it was barely 6 o'clock! He was a little early, but there was no use going back to bed now.

He decided since he had a little bit more time to cook something up that he'd make a nice big breakfast. For himself though, the Dursleys can have the left over eggs and sausages he made.

Deciding that he wanted to make a full English breakfast for himself, Harry proceeded to get all the things he'd need. After half an hour he had made himself some bacon, fried eggs, sausages, grilled tomato and mushrooms, and some toast with some butter on it. He made enough eggs and sausages left over so the Dursleys would have something to eat for breakfast.

Chuckling to himself quietly, he quickly scarfed down his food. He was more hungry than he thought. He guessed all that late night contemplation must have made him work up an appetite.

Almost as soon as he finished eating his food, his aunt entered the kitchen looking like a troll. Early in the mornings Aunt Petunia, on weekends, liked to keep her hair rollers and face mask on for a few extra hours in the day. She says that it made her hair a little bouncier and fuller while her skin felt extra soft. Truthfully it made her look like a mix between a horse and a troll. While it sounded like a creative mixture, it was just an ugly sort of mess that was Petunia Dursley. His uncle of course encouraged the action because he loved it when his wife got all prepped up. He felt that it was only right that such a distinguished man such as himself should have a beauty by his side. Usually his Aunt would just giggle like a school girl at his comments which would leave Harry and, oddly enough, Dudley to shudder in disgust.

Shortly after his Aunt entered the kitchen his Uncle entered behind her. Both of them took a seat by the table while Harry poured them both a cup of coffee. No cream just two tablespoons of sugar for the both of them. Looking at their faces they both had frowns. While Uncle Vernon had a look of absolute disgust in his eyes Aunt Petunia was just unreadable

"Boy sit down, we need to talk about all this freakishness that you have been causing lately."

Yeah, it was definitely disgust in his eyes. If there was one thing his Uncle Vernon hate more than the next door neighbors, the Dinkleberg's, it was abnormality.

"I will not have you bring in stray animals into my house, and cause a commotion! What would the neighbors say!" His face was getting to a nice shade of red at this point. Not quite maroon yet but it was a healthy deep shade.

"Uncle, I received a letter yesterday from an unusual source. It was not my fault that it specified that I had to write back and send it through an owl, of all things. I'm sure no one saw me."

Well that certainly helped that deep red turn into the maroon color Harry knew his uncle was capable of. Makes you wonder how he was capable of doing that. One time when Dudley was playing catch the freak with all his friends, and Harry as the freak himself, ran by a fence and had his pants get caught in one of the links. The whole thing ripped right in half like in a cartoon, he didn't even know that pants actually ripped like that. His face turned into a maroon color due to his embarrassment. It was definitely the same shade as his fathers so maybe it was hereditary. Shock set in his mind at a though 'wait we're related right'. Harry did not want his face to turn crimson under any circumstance.

His Uncle broke him out of his thoughts though.

"Now you listen here Boy," he said with such malice it made Harry cringe a little in the inside. "I will not have you talk back to me. I am the man of this house and out of the goodness of my heart, and my family's, we took you in after your idiotic parents died."

Cool anger washed over Harry. He'd heard it all before, how his parents got drunk one night and died from a car crash. He may not have known them, and he may have resented them a little bit, but he did not like it when his Uncle referred to them as idiotic or any sort of insulting nature.

Before his Uncle Vernon could continue with his rant about all that was normal, while insulting Harry any chance he could, the doorbell rang. It was just a little after 7 o'clock, who could be at the door at this unforsaken hour.

Having been ordered to go see who it was Harry opened the door to quite an unusual sight. An old woman, maybe in her late sixties, stood at their doorstep with a unique, for lack of better term, outfit. She wore a deep emerald colored robe like attire that went down all the way to the floor. She wore a pointy hat that crumpled down a little on the top. Looking at her she had a strict pulled back face even with all the wrinkles she had from old age. He could tell she carried herself in a confident regal way.

"Good evening Mr. Potter, I am Professor Minerva McGonagall."

So this was the professor that was going to introduce 'magic' to him. Not knowing what to say, she certainly looked the part but there was just one thing missing in Harry's eyes. Before he could stop himself from putting a foot in his mouth Harry blurted out the first thing that came into his mind.

"Where's your staff?" Quickly looking at anything other than her face, Harry muttered an apology for being rude while his face flushed in embarrassment.

Minerva looked down on the young child with amusement. He was certainly a Potter, groaning inside at the realization. He was a Potter.

"I have no need for a staff, young man."

Nodding at her answer Harry invited her inside. Before they could get any further into the house and into the living room a voice bellowed out from the kitchen.

"Boy, who was that outside the door?"

Vernon Dursley came shuffling out to the hallway to see an unusual woman standing by the door with that freak. To Vernon Dursley anything that he considered to be abnormal or unusual was an abomination. The whole science fiction mumbo jumbo was quickly struck down by his father when he was just a young tyke which carried through to his adulthood.

"Who are you" Vernon asked with authority and malice.

Harry stared impassively at his Uncle "This is Professor Minerva McGonagall. She is a professor at Hogwarts school for magic."

Even to Harry it sounded silly to say. It was just so foreign and, well, different. Magic was not real until that letter and even now he was at an impasse.

Aunt Petunia eventually came out into the hallway herself to see what all of the commotion was about. Walking in she saw a woman next to Harry with same style of clothing that her sister use to wear.

"Good evening Petunia, it's been a while." Professor McGonagall looked straight at his Aunt Petunia not even giving Uncle Vernon a second glance.

Aunt Petunia just stood in shock, she was motionless, pale, and silent. Finally reigning in her shock she quickly tried to excuse herself and her husband.

Vernon Dursley would have none of it though. He was the man of this house and he would not have another one of those freaks in his household. Turning a deep shade of red, again, Vernon yelled out with as much authority as he could muster. "Now look here you freak, I will not have you in my house hold dressed in shambles and ignoring me. I will have you kicked out and before you can fuc.."

He was cut short as Professor McGonagall raised her right hand and with a flourish of her wrist, no further sound came out of Uncle Vernon's mouth. No matter how much he tried to speak no sound would come out. Turning to a darker shade of crimson this time, probably a new record for him, Vernon flailed his arms in what Harry could only perceive as anger, but in his opinion it made him look more like a child.

"Now I will not have that sort of language around underage children Mr. Dursley. Petunia, me and young Harry Potter here have much to discuss." Aunt Petunia just nodded mutely and herded her husband back into the kitchen, he couldn't say no to being whisked away seeing as he couldn't talk at the moment, leaving Harry and Professor McGonagall alone.

"Now Mr. Potter, I'm under the impression that you have no prior knowledge of magic, and up until yesterday, believe it was a sham. Is that correct?"

Harry just nodded weakly unable to properly say anything. Questions were just exploding inside, how was she able to do that or was that actually magic.

Unable to contain his eleven year old curiosity Harry asked the first of his many questions. "Can I see your wand?"

He saw it for just a split second when she silenced his Uncle but he didn't get a great view of it. I guess that explained the staff question he had earlier.

Sighing to herself Minerva looked at the young copy of James and Lily Potter. She just knew this was going to be a long day. Definitely not amused by the Headmaster's mistakes. Definitely not amused at all.

It was about noon when Minerva McGonagall finished answering all of Harry's questions and a few practical demonstrations. It was scary to hear the in-depth questions that he had for her, and frankly very annoying. It reminded her of some of her Ravenclaw students, the more enthusiastic ones though. An enthusiastic Ravenclaw was an annoying one, and Harry Potter was definitely a headache that was going to cause her many more grey hairs in the next few years, she could already tell.

After receiving a confirmation that he indeed wished to go to Hogwarts this up coming school year and having finished with all his questions, they were heading to Diagon Alley to get all of Harry's school supplies.

Taking Harry to The Leaky Cauldron was the first step. Entering the establishment Harry looked on in wonder as scruffy looking people in clothing similar to Professor McGonagall shuffled about eating lunch and drinking what looked to be soda but he wasn't completely sure.

Conjuring a hood for the young boy Minerva handed it to him who looked back at her in wonder. "In our world you're quite famous."

He just looked at her as if she was stupid. "How am I famous?"

"I will tell you once we are seated, it's lunch time and it looks like we are both quite famished. Now put on the hood Mr. Potter."

Nodding at her answer Harry put on the hood and followed her inside. The place had a pretty dank smell to it, it wasn't a bad smell just a lingering smell. Along the way to their table they bumped into quite a few people. It was very crowded to begin with and Professor McGonagall seemed to have known quite a few people. They all called her professor so he was guessing that they were some of her past students.

Having been seated and with a menu in hand Harry ordered some fish and chips while Professor McGonagall just ordered a simple oatmeal with brown sugar.

"So how am I famous professor?"

Professor McGonagall looked at her future student and wondered how she could explain to him the reason for his fame. She was saved for a few minutes though as Tom came back with their orders.

"Here you go professor. Now who is this young man, he must be a muggle born student. 'Ain't I right professor?"

Seeing as Tom was one of the more trustworthy man she knew there wasn't any need to hide Harry's identity to him. "Almost Tom, this young man is Harry Potter."

His eyes widened in shock, "Mr. Potter, it is an honor. Please the food is all on the house this evening." Quickly excusing himself Tom quickly went back and seemed to be getting drinks. Definitely a good idea to tell Tom.

"Professor, what was that about. Why am I famous?" Harry was just dying to know, the mystery was killing him. Growing up with neglect, he'd never experienced that before. He may have been one of the best athletes and one of the smartest kids in school but he was still more of a loner for the most part. Attention was just something he was not very use to.

Licking her lips Minerva opened her mouth to explain. Thinking that just saying it bluntly would be the best course of action, so she proceeded to tell the tale of the boy-who-lived.

After that explanation, conversation between them ceased. Harry had a lot to think about. Sure he was glad that his parents weren't idiots that got into a car accident, as his Uncle told him, but they were actually murdered. It left him thinking.

Once they were finished with their lunch, Professor McGonagall took Harry out to the back of the pub and into a chilly little courtyard which was just a place filled with barrels and boxes. Walking towards the far back brick wall, Professor McGonagall took out her wand and tapped the bricks counter-clockwise.

The brick wall started to part like the Red Sea. Bricks folded in on themselves, clearing away from each other to create a doorway to a world that was indeed magic.

"Welcome to Diagon Alley, Mr. Potter."

Harry's jaw dropped, it was one of the most surreal sights he had ever seen. Everywhere he looked was a new experience in on itself. The amount of wonder that the alley possessed was absurd. There were shops that sold items that were magnificent and there were some that sold material that was just plain weird. Despite the amazing things to behold with his eyes, Harry found the Alley was rather unpleasant to smell. Scrunching up his nose, it was like a mixture of rotting eggs and dried urine, separately they were horrible, but together, it was most unflattering.

Seeing that boy scrunch his nose from the smell Minerva couldn't help but chuckle a little. Most muggleborns had the exact same reaction, stunned by the magic and disgusted by the smell.

"It's just the Apothecary, Mr. Potter. The smell will leave once we're out of the vicinity of the store."

Walking forward, Harry just nodded and followed her to where ever it was she was taking him. Never really paying attention to the woman walking beside him as he was too busy looking around in amazement at all the things Diagon Alley had to offer. There seemed to be a shop for pets, but the animals they had in there didn't look like your common house hold cat or dog. Just from the glance he took it looked like most of the animals inside were birds or owls.

There was also a store that sold brooms! Now he figured that there would be at least one store that sold house hold essentials like brooms, dust pans, and all that stuff, but the store sold nothing but brooms. Then he remembered in his Hogwarts acceptance letter it said that first years weren't allowed to bring brooms.

Realization struck him then that the brooms were probably for flying. Harry remembered when he was little and was watching an old cartoon with a green witch with boils and warts on her face flying on brooms. He figured there was some truth to that stereotype so he decided to ask Professor McGonagall if that were the case.

"Oh yes, brooms are quite popular with young people. It's mainly used in a sport called quidditch. You're father himself was one of the greatest fliers I have ever had the chance of watching."

Harry's head picked up on the tidbit of information about his deceased father. Having nothing to paint a picture of his dead parents, any little information he could get on them was gold. Deciding to not badger her with too many questions, Harry held his tongue for more information about his parents.

Choosing to look around some more, he noticed that they were heading towards a bank. Gringotts Bank.

Harry followed Professor McGonagall up the white stairs to a set of burnished bronze doors flanked by two short humanoid creatures. They wore scarlet and gold uniforms that showed that they were probably guards of some kind.

The creatures, goblins as Professor McGonagall pointed out, were short with a dark peach like complexion. They all seem to have pointy noses and pointy ears along with their slanted, deep set, beady dark eyes. They were definitely not the most beautiful creatures in existence. Glancing at the goblin guards he noticed one of them sneering at him to show off a set of sharp teeth. He guessed everything about goblins was just pointy.

"Come along now Mr. Potter, we have much to do today before we are finished."

Professor McGonagall herded him towards the doors which she proceeded to open. The doors led to a small entrance hall with another set of bronze doors. Harry noticed that there was something engraved on the doors:

Enter, stranger, but take heed

'Of what awaits the sin of greed

'For those who take, but do not earn,

'Must pay most dearly in their turn.

'So if you seek beneath our floors

'A treasure that was never yours,

'Thief, you have been warned, beware

'Of finding more than treasure there.

The message was eerie and mysterious. It gave Harry the chills but they proceeded onwards into the bank. Again he was treated to a sight he never once laid eyes on before. Little goblin creatures were perched up on tall desks where some were counting gold coins, while others were signing parchments that looked to be important bank documents.

Professor McGonagall walked up to one of the goblins and told them that they would like to make a withdrawal.

The goblin just stared at them in a scrutinizing way and asked for the key to their vault.

"Professor, I don't have any money" Harry felt bad, he didn't want his professor to buy him his school supplies with her own money. He did not take charity under any circumstance.

"There's no need to worry Mr. Potter, your parents left you an inheritance that should help cover all your school needs now and in the future."

That shocked Harry. He didn't think that his parents would have left him anything. It wasn't that he thought them to be poor or anything of that nature, but he just never expected to be left with anything.

"May I have the young master's vault key ma'am" The goblin that introduced himself as Griphook asked with a sneer on his face. Harry wondered if it was a race thing, as all goblins seem to have a permanent sneer on their faces. Except for the few working with gold coins. Those goblins seemed to have a more happy looking expression on their faces, though there was still traces of sneering.

After Professor McGonagall gave the key to Griphook they were taken to a cart that led downwards. Harry began to wonder how Professor McGonagall had the key to his vault, but those thoughts were squashed out of his head quite abruptly. The cart ride to his vault could only be described as one of the most exhilarating moments of his life, though Professor McGonagall would probably say other wise as her face turned to a sickly greenish hue.

It was literally a roller coaster ride, with no seat belts which was quite dangerous when he thought about it but it definitely added on to the fun and excitement.

Too soon for Harry's liking, the cart stopped at Vault 687. After opening the vault, Harry once again had his jaw dropping to the floor. It seemed the wizarding world was just adamant about leaving him speechless. For what could be the umpteenth time today Harry was at a loss for words. The vault contained what looked to be just piles and piles of gold.

His prospective of the phrase 'pile of gold' would forever be changed that day. To say that his parents left him a sizable amount of money was an understatement. The were some piles that reached the ceiling!

The goblin handed him a sack and told him to go make his withdrawal. Numbly taking it from the creature, Harry noticed that even though he put gold in the sack it didn't get any heavier. Looking at his professor with questioning eyes, he asked her why it was so.

"That sack is a goblin invention, it is charmed so you can put in as much gold as you want and it will never get heavy."

It seemed like a useful invention when your currency was gold, silver, and bronze coins.

After taking handful after handful of what Professor McGonagall said were called were galleons, they proceeded back in the cart and up to the main bank hall.

Their fist stop for his school supplies was at a shop called Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. He would need at least 3 sets of plain work robes, a plain black pointed hat, protective gloves, and a winter coat. Getting shooed in by Professor McGonagall who told him to get what he needed and that she'll just be at a shop near Madam Malkin's called Flourish and Blotts.

Nodding at her instructions, Harry went inside the shop to get robes tailored to his size. Looking around he was greeted by a plump woman with short grey hair.

"Well hello dear, are you here for robes?"

Harry nodded assuming she must have been the owner of the store, Madam Malkin.

"Oh dear, you're so cute. Are you a first year child?"

Blushing at her comment, he once again nodded yes. While she continued to gush over his looks, a boy standing by the full length mirrors screamed at her to get his fitting done. Madam Malkin just frowned and said that she'd get to him. He was then dragged to one of the full length mirrors beside the boy while Madam Malkin took their measurements for their robes.

"Bloody woman takes way too long. I'd rather she used magic to make these measurements go by faster. No use doing it the muggle way."

Harry glanced at the boy next to him who seemed to be making conversation with him. He just nodded not really wishing to converse further with the boy. He continued anyways.

"I'm going to be a first year this up coming school year. I'm going to be in Slytherin. My father was in Slytherin, and my father's father was in Slytherin. It's in my blood."

Harry hoped that Madam Malkin would be back with his robes soon so he didn't need to listen to the boy any further. Almost as if she heard his call Madam Malkin appeared with bags that included all his needed material along with the Harry's robes. He paid for his things and left before the blond haired boy could say anything else to him.

It wasn't that Harry was antisocial and didn't like talking to people. He just didn't like the way the boy was treating the store owner. He bossed her around and demanded things from her like he was above her. It reminded him too much or the Dursleys and it didn't appeal to him at all.

Walking towards the store Professor McGonagall said she would be in, Harry's attention was drawn to a different store. Eeylops Owl Emporium, a shop filled with bird cages, birds, and other bird necessities.

Drawn towards the shop, Harry came upon one owl in particular which was perched on a ledge instead of in a bird cage like all the other owls. The bird just stared at him with unblinking eyes and hooted softly at him. Smiling Harry went to pet the owl but was stopped by a voice.

"Watch out, that one's a feisty one."

Turning around Harry saw that it was an old man with thinning grey hair and a slight hunch.

"She's bitten more fingers, that bird has, than any bird in this here store."

Pulling back his hand not wanting to get nipped by the bird Harry said his thanks.

Without warning the bird flew from its ledge and landed on Harry's shoulder. Now this wasn't the first time an owl has landed on Harry's shoulder but it was the first time that an owl has nuzzled itself upon his face. It was quite nice.

"Well look 'ere. Seems I was wrong, I was. Looks like this 'ere bird has taken a fancy to yer."

Stroking the owl's white feathers as it continued to nuzzle itself on him, Harry turned to the old man and said, "I'll take her."

Whistling a nameless tune, Harry was quite happy with his purchases. As he entered the store Flourish and Blotts, the store Professor McGonagall said she would be in. He saw that she was standing by the section that said Advance Transfiguration. Not really knowing what transfiguration was he went over to her to let her know that he had made his purchases.

"Ah, good. I've already gathered up the books that you will need for the school year so just go to the front and purchase them while I look around some more. It seems you've also bought yourself a pet, I see." McGonagall said, referring to the snowy owl on his shoulder, who he decided to name Hedwig.

"She took quite a liking to me so I couldn't just leave her out in that store." He replied with smile on his face.

Returning the smile she told him to go pay for his books and to come get her when he was done. Nodding he took the books and went over to the front desk to pay for them.

As he was walking to pay for his books a certain book caught his eye. It was a worn out book with a slight build up of dust on top of it. Looking over it the title was A Guide to Magic Manipulation. It looked interesting and the prospect of reading up on a book that would help him with his new found magical abilities greatly interested him.

Thinking about his favorite quote, 'Knowledge is Power', his decision to pay the extra couple of galleons to buy the book was solidified. It's not like he was running out of cash anytime soon.

Picking up the book along with the books for school he made his way to the front where he paid and purchased his materials. Going out back to the Advance Transfiguration section of the store he told Professor McGonagall that he paid for everything. With a curt nod they left the store.

After buying the cauldron, glass phials, telescope, and scales, there was only one thing left for Harry to purchase to complete his school supplies. The one thing Harry was most excited to get, a wand.

Ever since he saw the magic that Professor McGonagall wielded with her wand he'd been excited at the prospect of being able to one day do the same kind of magic.

Professor McGonagall's voice brought him back to earth after his little day dream.

"I'm sorry professor, what was that you said?"

With a frown, "Mr. Potter you really should not be day dreaming," she said in a teacher like manner. She's definitely an uptight person Harry concluded. "I asked if you would like to get some ice cream before we get your wand."

The prospect of ice cream was a very appealing notion to Harry. On one hand he was really anxious to get his new wand and try some magic out, but then again there was ice cream. In the end, his eleven year old mind won out and Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor was their next destination. He concluded that getting ice cream was the best scenario since he'd have both ice cream and a wand too.

Entering the ice cream parlor Harry was treated to an aroma of sweets and other good smells. He scanned the ice cream flavors and found that there were a lot more to choose from than any muggle ice cream parlor he'd been to. Mind you he'd only been to one other ice cream parlor when he was little, but that's besides the point.

They had the old classic flavors like chocolate and vanilla but they also had some more adventurous flavors like creamy goat milk and leprechaun surprise, which in Harry's opinion could've been a really good flavor or really bad.

He settled with a chocolate and raspberry sundae with some chopped nuts, as he didn't feel too adventurous at the moment. Professor McGonagall settled with plain old vanilla with some sprinkles.

"Mr. Potter, I know you've been holding it in all day"

Harry looked at her not knowing what she was talking about.

"I can tell you've been dying to know more about your parents ever since we came upon that broom store."

She was right, he had been thinking a lot about his parents ever since she mentioned his father. It was a deep aching to learn more about them. It was silly and he knew that, but he wanted to learn more just to feel closer to them.

"Ah-ha, yeah I guess I wasn't really hiding it that well."

For the first time since Harry had met her, Professor McGonagall laughed. It was a cheerful laugh, not a mocking one that he'd expect. She laughed and strangely it felt nice. He laughed along with her.

"Mr. Potter, I knew your parents very well, they were two of my favorite students. I'd like you to know that you can always come to me should you ever want to know more about them."

She looked at him with a smile of compassion that was contagious to Harry. He smiled back. Not a silly guarded smile that he'd been flashing to everyone, but an actual real honest to goodness smile.

"Thank you professor, and please call me Harry."

They said no more to each other while in that ice cream parlor. There wasn't any words needed. Harry for the first time in his life was content. He didn't need to ask Professor McGonagall any more questions for the day. He was content with what he felt was accomplished today. Harry made his first friend and that was enough to satisfy his longing, for now. Should he ever have the need to feel closer to his parents, which he knew he would, then he would most certainly take Professor McGonagall up on her offer.

But for now, he was content with eating his chocolate and raspberry sunday and enjoying his good fortune.

The last stop of the day was Ollivander's Wand shop. It was an old looking shop with cracks in the building and old cobwebs everywhere. Entering the shop it seemed to just be a deserted place that needed a good cleaning.

Walking forward towards the front desk Harry and Professor McGonagall looked in to see if the old wand maker was some where in the back.

"9 and 1/2 inches, made of fir with a dragon heartstring core, quite stiff too but incredibly perfect for transfiguration."

Harry and Professor McGonagall turned around to spot the source of the voice. It was an old man, stooped with long white hair and pale silver eyes. His complexion was quite pale, making Harry wonder if the man ever went out in the daylight.

"That wand is probably as stiff as you are Minerva." The wand maker said as he chuckled to himself causing the woman to scowl at him.

Turning his attention to Harry, he looked on with curiosity. It looked as if he was analyzing him right at that very moment. It gave Harry the creeps. The wand maker bowed at him and said.

"Ah, young master Potter. It is an honor to make your acquaintances. I am Garrick Ollivander."

Saying a quick 'nice to meet you' to the man he listened in as he spoke.

"I am guessing that you have come to acquire your wand, am I correct?"

Nodding yes, the man brought his hand to his chin while looking at him again in a way that he felt that he was being analyzed.

"Wands are quite tricky master Potter. See it is not I, nor you, that chooses the wand but the wand itself that chooses its master."

It was cryptic in a sense but Harry just nodded at that piece of information. Mr. Ollivander went into the back and came back with a box. He opened the box and inside was a yellow wand. It looked quite extravagant and flashy with all the designs it had.

"9 inches, ashwood, quite flexible, with a dragon heartstring core its quite effective with charms"

Taking the wand out of the box Mr. Ollivander handed the wand to Harry. Almost as soon as Harry laid hand on the wand it was taken back by the old wand maker.

"No, no not quite right."

Going to the back again the man came out with another box, this time a plain looking brown wand.

"10 and 1/2 inches, hawthorn wood, phoenix feather, very stiff and perfect for curses and jinxes."

This time when Harry held the wand it wasn't taken out of his hand right away. Looking at the wand and then the wand maker.

"Er, what do I do now sir."

Chuckling the old man replied, "Well give it a whirl Mr. Potter."

Following his orders Harry gave the wand a flick which resulted in the destruction of some cabinets behind the old wand maker. That resulted in Mr. Ollivander taking the wand out of his hands once again.

Instead of being mad at the destruction the old man just laughed.

"You are quite a tricky customer, Mr. Potter"

Still chuckling, the old man went out back once again. Turning towards his professor Harry opened his mouth to speak his opinion.

"That man is barmy"

All he got out of her was an amused grunt as the wand maker came back out with another box.

"How about this one Mr. Potter, 11 and 1/2 inches, cherry wood, unicorn hair, and pliable perfect for transfiguration."

Taking the wand, Harry was met with another disastrous result. This would continue for the better part of the afternoon as Harry was presented with wand after wand that was just not compatible with him. Looking like the store had seen better days Professor McGonagall proceeded to do a little repairing to help out. At least it gave her something to do.

Finally stopping, the man just looked at Harry and muttered 'very peculiar, I wonder' and proceeded to go to the back for the umpteenth time that day. He came back with an old box that was covered with dust, when the man blew on it to get rid of the dust it went straight to Harry which made him cough.

"This wand is one of the more powerful wands I have in my possession. Its brother wand is wielded by the very same man that gave you that scar upon your forehead."

Getting a good look at the wand its handle was wider than the actual wand part. The handle was a dark brown almost black color while the wand was a healthy brown.

"11 inches, holly wood, phoenix feather, nice and supple"

Taking the wand out of the box Mr. Ollivander presented it to Harry who took it in his hands. It felt powerful, surely it did, but at the same time it didn't feel right. Like there was something missing.

The wand was taken out of his hand once again while the man looked at him with even more curiosity.

"Yes, you have definitely been one of my hardest customers as of late Mr. Potter"

"Err, thank you I guess" Harry replied not really knowing what to say.

"I do have one more wand for you, I wonder.."

The man once again left and went out back to get another wand. When he returned he came back with a dark obsidian colored box with intricate criss crossing designs on the side.

"This might be my greatest creation, out of all the wands that I have made I believe this to be the best of them all."

Opening the lid the wand maker took out a black colored wand with red swirling wood on the handle. The wand was pure black and quite smaller than all the other wands that Harry had tried.

Handing him the wand, Harry held it and felt a surge of energy and power that he had never felt before. It energized him and left him feeling like he could do anything. Now this was comfortable, this felt right.

Both Professor McGonagall and Mr. Ollivander looked on in awe as the magic from Harry literally saturated the air around him. Even they could feel the pulsing potential that the young boy had.

"Sir, I think this is the one." Harry looked at the wand maker ready to make the purchase for his wand right then and there.

"7 and 1/2 inches, ebony wood, phoenix feather, nice and supple, very powerful"

The wand maker looked at him once again in a manner that seemed analytic. He had his face scrunched up as if trying to figure out a mystery, but ended up just smiling.

"Mr. Potter, would you like to know why I consider this to be my greatest creation."

Harry said yes wanting to know more about the wand that chose him. It intrigued him that he currently possessed a wand that was so powerful.

"The wand is incomplete"

Harry was confused, how could his wand be incomplete. It definitely worked and at the same time, he noticed that when Mr. Ollivander gave the description for the wand he mentioned it's wood type and its core so it does have all the characteristics for a proper wand.

"I don't understand sir, doesn't my wand have everything it needs to work."

The man nodded his head, "Yes, yes it definitely has everything it needs to work like any proper wand, but that wand is special. I have never been able to find it but haven't you noticed how it is lighter and shorter than all of the wands that I have shown you before hand."

Nodding yes that he had noticed it but didn't really consider it anything more than just a characteristic of the wand.

"Well that wand is capable of a second core."

Now this floored everyone in the room not just Harry. Professor McGonagall was shocked beyond belief. She has never once heard of a wand being capable of two cores! It was remarkable, extraordinary even!

"Now Garrick, how is that possible?" Minerva asked, she was curious and she really wanted to know how it could even be remotely possible.

"Minerva, when I create wands I do not create them at a random. The size, the wood, the core, and its characteristics are already pre-made. I just have to feel the pull of the magic from each material. This wand in particular is special."

Harry looked on in wonder and asked the man to continue his explanation.

"I acquired the feather that came from that wand in a most peculiar way. One day a Royal Phoenix came to me and just dropped one of its tail feathers at me."

Now this had Professor McGonagall even more shocked. Royal Phoenix's were thought to be the epitome of destruction and healing. They were more powerful than a dragon and capable of healing absolutely any wound or illness.

"When I created the wand I could still feel like something was missing but I have never been able to find out the missing piece. As the owner of said wand I would expect that you will be able to achieve where I have failed."

Harry could only nod, not really trusting his voice at the moment. It was a lot to take in, and it seemed the responsibility that came with the wand was as heavy as the wand was powerful.

Moving to pay for the wand Harry gave the man the ten galleons. Before Harry and Professor McGonagall could leave the wand shop, the old wand maker left him with some cryptic last words.

"I expect great things from you Mr. Harry Potter."

Having finished his shopping with Professor McGonagall she escorted him back to number four Privet Drive by way of apparition. It was a nasty way of traveling that left Harry feeling sick to his stomach. With his hands on his knees, he tried his hardest not to throw up

Looking at the young man with amusement, it was always the hardest first time, apparating. It could leave the traveler feeling sick due to the uncommon feeling of being pulled through a tube in space. It would get better as you use the method more but Harry didn't need to worry about that until he was at least seventeen years old.

"Here looks like you could use this."

Looking at the out stretched hands of Professor McGonagall Harry saw that she was holding out a piece of chocolate. Not knowing why she was handing him sweets he looked at her and asked.

"First time apparition users, even if it was side along, tend to feel quite woozy and nauseous. A good cure to the feeling is a bar of chocolate."

Taking the candy from her hand he muttered a thank you Harry took a bite. Feeling better than he had, he took another bite until the chocolate was all gone and he felt as good as new, if not tired from all the excitement from the day.

Standing up right Harry just smiled at her and said thank you once again.

"Mr. Potter it has been quite a journey with you today, I bid you a good day and remind you that the train for Hogwarts leaves at exactly 11 o'clock in the morning at September 1st from Platform 9 3/4 at King Cross Station. Be sure not to miss it because there is no exception."

Smiling and nodding at her, Harry said he wouldn't miss it for the world.

As she was turning to leave Harry called out to her.

"Professor" He yelled

She turned around

"Thank you very much for everything that you have done. I hope I'll be able to visit you and not just during class."

Again she smiled at him, only the second time that day.

"You are quite welcome Harry, and yes I'm sure that, that is quite possible."

She turned around again and disapparated.

Allowing himself to smile a little longer Harry cooled his face and entered number four Privet Drive. Seeing as no one was home Harry figured they went out to dinner seeing as he wasn't home to cook anything for them.

He dropped off his trunk filled with all his material, they bought one before they left Diagon alley. It was quite useful as it had 5 compartments with a charm that allowed for more stuff to be put in it. He didn't have nearly as much stuff to fill all the compartments but he figured in the next seven years he'd have enough to come close.

Walking towards the kitchen, he glanced at the big clock and saw that it was a little past seven. He went into the kitchen and made himself a ham sandwich from the left over ham from the other night. Filling himself a glass of milk, Harry went back into the cupboard under the stairs, that was his room, and proceeded to take out a book that he had bought.

He decided that he wanted to read a little ahead before he had to go to Hogwarts. Plus he had almost a month until that time, a little reading would help him pass the time. Starting with the book that first caught his , Harry took out A Guide to Magic Manipulation.

Petting Hedwig who was perched on top of her cage, the owl gave a little hoot of approval. Taking a good chunk of his ham sandwich he gave her the piece. Even though he had owl food and owl treats for her, he figured since it was her first day with him he'd spoil her a little with some good food. Taking a bite out of his sandwich Harry opened the book to the first page.

**Authors Note:**

**Well there you go the second chapter to Everything is an Illusion. I know things are going pretty slowly at moment but everything I include in the story is important for the story and character development. Next chapter should be a little more exciting in my opinion. Well this is the Beta-ed version which was done by my god friend munkeymaniac, so i want to thank hime for all the's done to take the time to help me with some of my grammar mistakes and all those other mistakes. Anyways don't expect the next chapter to come out as soon as this one! I probably wont have the chapter done until the end of the weekend but other than that happy reading!**

**Enjoy and don't forget to leave me a review!**


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or its character, those belong to J.K. Rowling.

Everything's An Illusion

Chapter 3

The last couple of weeks for Harry had been pretty boring to say the least. He spent most of his time going through the motion of the repeated routine that the last month of summer had to offer.

He'd wake up**;** make some breakfast for himself and the Dursley's. He'd have some ridicules chore that his Uncle Vernon would have him do, which usually involved a lot of house cleaning and yard work. To tell you the truth Harry didn't really the added chores that he's been receiving this summer.

Not to say that he enjoyed doing them for fun it just killed time and kept his mind off of Hogwarts and magic all together. The added chores made the day go by faster and boy did he want his days to go by fast. Night time became Harry's favorite part of this summer.

At night, after he had finished all his chores and make dinner, he'd crack open one of his books of any subject and read until he fell asleep. He got accustomed to the simplicity of the routine, while not the most exciting was satisfactory, while not the most exciting, was satisfactory.

Surprisingly neither Uncle Vernon nor Aunt Petunia had said anything about Hogwarts or magic. They've been tight lipped and hardly interacted with him besides the usual orders of what they wanted him to do that day.

It was a welcoming change**;** he liked the fact that they were giving him his space but he could see that it was only a matter of time before Uncle Vernon blew his lid and said something to him.

He could see it, each day his jaw would clinch harder and harder while his face grew redder by the day. His anger boiled at a threatening degree and it would be only a matter of time before he really told Harry what he thought of all this _freaky-ness_.

Harry was surprised that Uncle Vernon was even capable of holding it in for such a long time. He was expecting him toHe was expecting him to blow up at him the following day prior to his trip to Diagon Alley and that silencing mishap with Professor McGonagall.

He figured that Aunt Petunia had something to do with it. She had a weird reaction to Professor McGonagall and the way Professor spoke to her was almost like they knew each other. There was also the fact that she was his mother**'**s sister, so she must have had prior knowledge of magic.

It made him mad knowing that there was so much being kept secret from him. If Aunt Petunia knew about magic and his heritage then why did she hide everything from him**?** These questions plagued his mind for the last couple weeks.

Idly staring at the clouds**,** Harry's thoughts wandered. He had just finished doing yard work for his Aunt and he figured since he was done for the day that he'd go to the park and just relax. He's been working hard all summer so a moment of peace and quiet was nice every now and then.

"Well look who we have here boys," So much for peace and quiet he thought with a sigh "Its widdle Harrikins."

Now it's been the same song and dance with Harry and Dudley's gang of friends for the past few years now. When they were very little Harry was at the receiving end of Dudley's creative games. It would always start off with Harry running away and most often end with Harry covered in scrapes and bruises.

They've long passed that stage in their lives though. Harry wasn't as small as he was when he was little, and he was a pretty small little tyke. He may not be as strong or as powerful as Dudley but he's still much more athletic.

Playing soccer for the past couple of years, he was one of the best players to play in the U-11 league. His speed and keen reflexes matched with his high IQ which made him a very slipper person to get your hands on.

Sighing to himself Harry just glanced at Dudley who was standing above him while he lay on the grass. Not even giving him a second look, he closed his eyes and turned his back on them and tried to relax.

"Oi! Look at me when I'm speaking to you Potter!" Dudley clinched his meaty little fists in anger from the disrespect Harry was giving him.

Once again Harry let out a sigh, he seemed to be doing that a lot around Dudley, and he turned around to face Dudley. "Leave me alone Dudley, I don't have time for you right now."

Dudley's face started turning a pink shade until it gradually turned to red and went back to pink. Who knew anyone was capable of changing colors so fast like that**?** Sneering at the little punk**,** Dudley grinned at the information that he had overheard from his parents.

"Whatever freak, enjoy your last weeks of summer because once it's over you're out of here."

Of course Of course he was leaving, he rolled his eyes at him. I'm happy to leave. He figured Dudley didn't understand common sense very much.

"I heard from dad that you're going to be shipped to St. Brutus's Secure Center for Incurably Criminal Boys."

With eyes wide Harry finally turned around and faced his fat cousin. "What are you talking about Dudley**?**" Harry asked with so much venom that Dudley visibly cringed.

Composing himself Dudley just gave him a sadistic grin while the rest of his friends laughed like hyenas. "Dad said that he wasn't going to allow you to go to your freak school and instead he's planning on sending you to St. Brutus. Don't you think its funny Potter?"

Harry's eyes narrowed in mistrust. Dudley always made his life miserable**. **He wouldn't put it past him to make up a lie to ruffle him up.

"You have no proof of this Dudley**.**" Harry spat out.

Dudley just grinned knowing he won this little confrontation. "Well why don't you just go ask dad himself, Harrikins**?**"

Harry's mind was going a mile a second as Dudley and his gang walked away laughing at his misfortune. The Dursleys had no authority to decide where he was going to school. They didn't have the right to make that decision for him.

These thoughts ran through Harry's mind as he walked back to number four Privet Drive to get to the bottom of all this. He was not going to allow the Dursleys to ruin his future.

Calmly walking into the house Harry found his Uncle Vernon sitting on his favorite seat in the house, the armchair by the telly. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to get his Uncle**'**s attention with the telly on**,** Harry took the initiative and stood in front of the telly blocking his view.

Uncharacteristically his Uncle didn't yell at him, he only stared at him. "Boy, you better have a good reason for disturbing my shows."

Not used to dealing with a calm Vernon**,** Harry bit back the words he'd been planning to use. He expected this conversation to start differently. He expected a lot more yelling, plus a healthy dose of that Dursley red anger flush. It's never a real spat until the Dursley flush is in full bloom.

A calm Uncle Vernon was a much harder person to deal with. He learned long ago that using his Uncle**'**s anger allowed him to get what he wanted. Persuasion was easy**;** the best way to get someone to do something is to make them want to do it. By using his Uncle's anger it clouded his judgment and made it easier for Harry to get his way.

"Dudley told me that you weren't allowing me to go to Hogwarts."

A grim formed on his Uncle's face as he calmly analyzed the situation. The best way to go about this is to appeal to reason.

"Yes, I decided that I've had enough of your freakish-ness and your delinquency. It's time that you get straighten out boy. This September you're going to attend St. Brutus's Secure Center for Incurably Criminal Boys."

Cooling his anger that was bubbling inside of him Harry kept his mask of calmness and addressed the situation. "You should let me go to Hogwarts."

It was a simple statement but he knew and so did his Uncle, that it was just a bait.

"Oh, and why should I do such a thing when St. Brutus is low cost and it'll knock the abnormality out of you**?**"

Harry flinched and appeared to be in conflict while on the inside he was thinking 'yes let him believe he has the upper hand**.'**

Trying to make himself look desperate Harry put his age to good use. "There are many reasons," Harry blurted out. No one ever expected an eleven year old to outsmart them after all.

"You won't have to see me for almost ten months a year**,**" which was true**.** He'd be all the way in some faraway location in Scotland and wouldn't have to be back until next summer.

"I won't be able to cause any trouble for you." Not that he ever tried to, it just seems like trouble found him.

"Best of all it'll be free of cost!"

Uncle Vernon looked at him in contemplation. Harry knew it wouldn't be enough to make him change his mind.

"No, my decision is final."

Clinching his fist, he closed his eyes as if he was trying to stop himself from crying. "I'll pay you with gold coins!"

His eyes widened and he quickly covered his mouth with his hands as if he let out a big secret. His uncle just looked at him in a funny way and asked him what he said.

Harry excused himself as he walked out the room and retreated to the cupboard under the stairs. He knew that his uncle heard him. It was only a matter of time before he...**.**

"Boy, what did you mean by gold**?**"

'Gotcha,' Harry thought. The one thing, his Uncle cared more about than being normal was money. He knew that the allure of 'gold coins' would catch his Uncle's attention.

"M-my parents left behind some gold coins for me." Yeah, piles on piles of gold but his uncle didn't need to know that.

"Show me these gold coins, boy."

Quickly taking out the sack that he received from the goblins**,** Harry emptied out its contents to show that he had about thirty galleons left.

"I-if I give this to you will you let me go to Hogwarts?"

His Uncle took one of the galleons into his hand and inspected it. He nodded his head while looking at the coin as if he actually knew what to look for to make sure it was real gold. Putting it into his mouth and taking a bite, Vernon Dursley nodded and confirmed it was gold.

Hook, line, and sinker Harry thought.

"So will you?" He asked in a hopeful voice. "It'd be an even trade."

Harry already knew the answer that was going to come out of his Uncle's mouth before he even answered.

"No."

Harry stood there shocked. How could he have not agreed to that deal**? **It appealed to him in all angles and would satisfy his wants and then some.

"And I'm taking these coins with me regardless."

Stroking his hands as if he just won the jackpot Vernon Dursley moved to gather up all the remaining coins.

"What! You can't take them if I can't go to Hogwarts!" Harry shouted, anger radiating from him.

"I can and I will boy. No one's going to believe a freak like you, especially who is going to St. Brutus's Secure Center for Incurably Criminal Boys, would have gold coins**?**"

Savagely grinning Vernon took the rest of the coins and left Harry's room.

Harry started to tremble as his Uncle walked out with his money. His fist clenched as his face switched to an angry sneer. 'Fine, time for plan B**.**" Harry thought to himself.

Grabbing his wand Harry walked out with the intentions of getting everything he wanted, no matter what.

He found his uncle once again sitting in his favorite seat and watching the telly while he played around with Harry's money**,** made his blood boil.

"Okay, _**Uncle**_**,**" he said practically spitting the word out, "You will let me go to Hogwarts and you will return my money back or else..."

"Boy, what could you do to a man like me**?**" His Uncle just laughed at him and told him to leave.

Taking his wand out and pointing it at his Uncle in a threatening motion**,** "Or I will do more than just silence you like Professor McGonagall did to you."

He could see that his Uncle got nervous after that threat but it wasn't enough.

"You freak! Threatening me in my own household**?**" Ah the Dursley flushed**,** finally making its way in the conversation. It was only a matter of time.

After reading most of **A Guide to Magic Manipulation** Harry had a fair understanding of how to control his magic. He was nowhere near close to controlling it**,** but he knew it was there and he knew how to feel it.

Gathering the magic from his core**, **Harry pushed it out until it 'touched' his wand. It was the same feeling he had when he had first received his wand. It energized him and made him feel amazing while the air around him radiated and pulsed with power.

"You will do as I say."

He didn't really know how to do magic yet, some of his books had some spells in them but he hadn't tried them out yet. This was just pure magic control. Everyone when they first get a wand experiences this. When the wand chooses its owner**, **the magical core in the wizard fluctuates and makes contact with the wand which forms a bond. This causes an abundant amount of the wizard**'**s magical power to radiate off of him. Of course a well**-**trained wizard with better control would be able to cut down the aura and just use the needed amount of power without having to use excess magic.

This was the sight that Petunia Dursley walked into. After trimming her rose bushes she thought she'd go make some lemonade and join her husband and relax. What she didn't expect was her nephew glowing while he had his wand pointed at her husband. So she did the natural thing to do in this situation, she screamed.

Vernon seeing his wife screaming obscenity at the situation**, **relented.

"Alright, alright you can go to your freaky little school! J-just get away from us!"

Having made his point clear Harry lowered his wand and ceased his magic. Walking over and taking his money Harry returned to his room with a smile on his face.

'Always have a backup plan,' he thought with a grin. 'Always have a backup plan.'

The rest of the month went by without any more trouble from the Dursleys and Harry wouldn't have wanted it any other way. It seemed his little wand stunt left his Uncle with a little fear for the magic.

Harry didn't really care he went the political route with them for too long but that never amounted to anything so maybe the fear route would be a little more beneficial. With Uncle Vernon's new found fear for magic**,** Harry had a lot less to do for the summer. They actually divided up the chores and had Dudley do some! He wasn't complaining as it gave him more time to bury his nose in his books.

At the moment he was quite engrossed with his Potions book. He found the topic to be very interesting as it had many similarities to cooking, just much more volatile. Hearing a chime from outside his door Harry glanced at the clock next to him. It showed that it was midnight**;** he closed his book and turned off the lights. He needed to sleep**;** tomorrow's going to be a big day after all.

It was almost 10:30 when they arrived at King Cross Station. It was a quiet ride as neither Harry nor Uncle Vernon refused to speak to each other.

"Don't even think about coming back for any of the breaks boy. We don't want you bringing back any of your freakish things back with you," and those were the only words spoken between them for the ride.

Harry just nodded and pushed his cart filled with his luggage. He got many weird looks at the station because of Hedwig. Deciding that it'd probably be better if she flew there since she probably wouldn't want to be cooped up in her cage all day long**,** he took her out of her cage and instructed her to go on ahead. The bird just nodded in response and nipped at his fingers.

Walking around he started looking for the area in between platform 9 and platform 10 to get to platform 9 ¾**.** Harry noticed that most of the people walking around looked to be normal muggles. Dressed in formal work suits and dresses, it looked like most of them were just going to work.

Finally finding the barrier that Professor McGonagall said would be there Harry saw that there was a family of red heads who looked to be on the verge of walking through the barrier like he was planning to.

Walking towards the barrier**, **the mother of the family noticed him and gave him a nice warm smile.

"Are you a first year dear?"

She was a rather plump woman with scarlet red hair that was put up in a loose bun. Harry just nodded a yes.

"Wonderful, Ron here is going for his first year too." She indicated to an awkward looking red head who appeared to have dirt on his face. The boy smiled at him timidly and was ushered by**;** who presumed was his, father into the barrier. They disappeared through it as if the wall wasn't even there, it was like magic! Oh wait, it was magic.

"Fred and George here are going into their third year." Next to her were two identical twins with large goofy expressions on their faces. They both bowed and extended a hand for a handshake which Harry returned.

"Good day there mate, I'm Gred!"

"And I'm Forge!"

Harry smiled at their theatrics and introduced himself as Harry, making sure not to say his last name.

The plum woman, who introduced herself as Mrs. Weasley, just frowned in disapproval and ushered Harry towards the barrier.

"Now you go in through the barrier dear**.**"

Nodding at her instructions Harry took a deep breath and walked straight towards the wall, his eyes closed, praying nothing would go wrong. When Harry opened his eyes he was treated to a wonderful sight. In front of him was a red engine whose smoke billowed out its chimney, with the words **Hogwarts Express** written across it.. Harry knew he'd made it through.

Right behind him was Mrs. Weasley, who went ahead of him to say her goodbye to her son Ron. Mrs. Weasley made it through the two twin boys who followed suit muttering to themselves.

The two twin boys noticed Harry and walked over to him.

"Harry**.** Our buddy, our old pal! Gred said with a wild grin on his face, or was it Forge?

"How would you like to participate in one of our pranks right at this moment**?**" Forge raised his arm up**, **with his pointer finger raised to the sky as if to emphasize his point.

'They must really like to dramatize everything' Harry thought to himself while a grin started to form on his own face.

"Well what did you boys have in mind**?**"

The two devious boys shared a grin and had Harry huddled up with them and started to whisper inconspicuously to tell him all about their prank.

Percy Weasley was not having a good day. It started off terrible and he just knew it was going to end the way it started, terrible.

He woke up late that morning and as a result had to take a cold shower. It was one of the banes of having such a large family. He usually woke up earlier than most of his family members but for some reason his alarm clock had not gone off that moment. He had a feeling his brothers, Fred and George, had something to do with it.

After the cold shower he got himself dressed and went downstairs to eat some breakfast in which he successfully spilled jam on his shirt. Not having enough time to change into new robes he was forced to leave the Burrow with a stained shirt.

Sighing to himself**, **he walked towards the barrier**;** he definitely was not having a good day. As he came through to the other side a young boy, a good head shorter than him, with raven black hair bumped into him and walked on without even apologizing.

Grumbling to himself about bloody first years and respect he walked on not noticing that everyone was suddenly looking at him and were diverting their eyes.

"Perseus Ignatius Weasley! What in God's name are you doing**?**" His mother**'**s shrill voice echoed as Percy finally noticed the eyes and laughter that was directed at him.

"Why are you not wearing pants**?**"

Shock made its way to his face as his face paled an unhealthy shade of white. Slowly looking down to check if he was indeed wearing pants**,** he was treated to a sight that made his face turn crimson that rivaled the Hogwarts Express.

Harry, Fred, and George were howling with laughter. They were hysteric holding on to each other to keep from falling on the floor while tears dribbled down their faces.

It was all Fred and George's idea, they came up with this little sticker that had an affect similar to a 'notice me not' charm but instead of not noticing it made whatever the sticker was attached to become 'see through.' Harry was skeptical at first**, **not believing such a thing until the boys demonstrated on their robes leaving them in just their under shirts and pants.

Wide eyed Harry agreed to their plan. He was supposed to wait by the portal until their brother walked through and bump into him all the while putting the sticker on his pants. It was easy to spot Fred and George's brother considering their family trait of having red hair. The plan was simple, easy, and very entertaining.

Having finally composed themselves the twins excused since they were being called over by their very heated mother.

Bidding them good luck Harry proceeded to enter the Hogwarts train and searched for an empty compartment. It was still at least 10 minutes until the train departed**.** He was able to find an empty compartment near the end of the train.

Soon after**, **the train started to depart the train station. Looking out the window Harry couldn't help feel a pang of jealousy course through him as he watched family members waving goodbyes to their love ones.

Harry was interrupted as the doors to his compartment slid open and a girl with short blonde hair, barely past her shoulders, entered the room.

"Is anyone else sitting here?" she asked as her clear blue eyes met his emerald colored eyes.

Shaking his head 'no' Harry once again looked out the window.

Taking that as a cue to be let in**, **the girl walked in, closed the door behind her and took the seat across from the boy. Looking at him and the curiosity due to his lack of socialization she extended her hand and introduced herself.

"Hi, I'm Daphne Greengrass."

Harry once again looked away from the view outside the window and extended his has out to shake the girls hand.

"Harry**,**" he said curtly and once again moved his gaze back to the view out of the window as he'd much rather watch the beautiful scenery of Britain's countryside.

Taking note that he never gave out his last name she just shrugged at his cold shoulder and mimicked Harry and stared out the window.

The train ride was fairly quiet for the most part**.** Harry enjoyed the silence and the girl Daphne**,** seemed to not mind it either. It was peaceful and quite but like most times Harry's peace would be disturbed.

The door once again slid open and the twins from before entered but with a person trailing behind them.

"Harry!'

"Our buddy,"

"Our pal,"

"How are you in this fine evening?" They finished off together.

"I'm doing just fine guys" Harry said in amusement.

Smiling Harry figured that he'd see a lot of Fred and George throughout his school year and should expect the same amount of silliness each time.

"We just came in here to tell you that your secret is safe with us." George said while winking at him.

Not understanding what they were taking about Harry looked at them puzzled as Fred continued from his brother to answer his questioning gaze.

"There's been talk of the boy-who-lived entering Hogwarts this school year and really how many black haired, green eyed first years named Harry could there be**?**"

A gasp from the other side of the compartment made him look over towards the girl and saw her trying to cover her gasp as a cough.

Chuckling a little he knew someone would recognize him eventually**.** He stuck his hand out and formally introduced himself.

"Well I guess you guys caught me. Hi, nice to meet you I'm Harry Potter."

"Potter?! You're Harry Potter?!" A voice from behind Fred and George exclaimed.

The twins parted showing that it was a young freckled red head who Harry remembered was named Ron. Seems he still has the dirt smudge on his face**!**

"Err, yeah that's me." Not really knowing how to respond to the young boy who looked like he was meeting Merlin himself.

The boy rushed in and quickly grabbed his hand. "I'm Ronald Weasley! But you can call me Ron!" He shook his hand wildly while looking at his forehead expectantly.

"Do you really have a scar from when You Know Who killed your parents**?**" he asked.

Getting irritated from the **boy's** blunt questions Harry tore his hand away and glared at the red head.

"Oh yeah, after Voldemort killed my mom and dad he walked over to my crib and tried to curse me but I grabbed on to his wand and blew him up instead. Before he fell Voldemort inadvertently scratched my head with his long fingernails and gave me this scar."

The boy, Ron, nodded his head along with his story believing every word he said. His brothers looked on shaking their heads, while Daphne looked at him with a face that showed she thought that the story was all crap all the while holding in her laughter.

Having enough of their brother making a fool of himself the two twins each took a hold of their brother's ears and dragged him away.

"Sorry about him Harry,"

"We'll see you at the feast!" Fred and George yelled back as the continued to drag their struggling brother who was complaining about wanting to know more about Harry.

Grumbling**,** Harry turned back towards the window and looked out.

"So, Harry Potter…"

Groaning Harry looked over at Daphne and nodded to her.

"So why did you hide your name?" She asked.

He just looked at her as if she had asked the stupidest question in the world. "Because I didn't want people acting like _that_ towards me."

Nodding at his answer, "Not all of us would have reacted like that baboon**;** a true pureblood would have reacted much more controlled."

He raised his eyebrow at her not knowing what a pureblood was.

"What do you mean by 'a true pureblood**?**" He asked her.

While he may have studied up on the school curriculum he was still pretty naive when it came to wizard customs.

"Pureblood wizards are those whose parents are from a proper wizarding background, those with one parent who is muggle born are half-blood's like yourself and those who come from a family whose both parents are muggles are called Muggle borns"

Nodding at her answer**,** Harry noticed that she mentioned that he was a half-blood.

"How do you know I'm a half-blood" Harry asked.

She just looked at him and replied, "Just open any history books relating to you. They usually have a detailed history of you and your family in them."

Contemplating her words Harry didn't like the fact that people he didn't know knew more about him than he did. It was unnerving and frankly very annoying.

Silence once again fell between the two kids as they both let their gaze wander back to the view outside the window.

It was quite a while until the silence between them was broken as a knock from their door broke their gaze away from the window as an old lady opened the sliding door. "Would you kids like anything from the trolley?"

Both nodded as Harry bought a couple of chocolate frogs, some cauldron cakes and a pumpkin pastry. Daphne settled with a few licorice wands and a chocolate frog.

Harry was fascinated by all the different types of candy that the magical world had to offer. Opening one of his chocolate frogs he was surprise to find it jump out of the wrappings. With quick reflexes Harry easily caught the frog in mid jump.

Looking at it wearily, he didn't know if he even wanted to try it. A melodic laugh made him look up to see Daphne laughing at him.

"Don't worry they're just charmed to be animated. They're just chocolate."

Taking a hesitant bite Harry found that it was just chocolate and consumed the remanding portion from his hand.

Smiling at her counterpart**,** Daphne took a bite of her licorice wand and offered some to Harry who nodded and took one.

"So what house do you think you'll be sorted into?" Daphne asked after swallowing the bit of licorice she was chewing on.

"I don't really know**.** I don't mind being sorted into anyone of them." Harry didn't really have a preference. He was just eager to learn more about the world that his parents lived in.

"What about yourself?" Harry asked.

"Well, I'm most likely going to be sorted into Slytherin." Harry nodded at her answer. Slytherin - the house of snakes, cunning and ambitious. He wouldn't have minded being sorted in there.

"I see well good luck with that." Harry said with a smile on his face, which Daphne returned and muttered a thank you.

Never being a social person to begin with**,** Harry found himself conversing with Daphne and found that their conversations didn't leave him annoyed. He found it pleasant as most conversations he had with people left him feeling.

Talking some more**,** their conversation was interrupted by a bushy haired girl with slightly big front teeth, followed by a chubby looking boy who seem to be trying to meld with the shadow of the girl.

"Has either one of you seen a toad? Neville lost his," she asked while pointing to the timid boy behind her.

Both Harry and Daphne shook their head no.

Sighing**,** the girl just shook her head and opened her mouth to speak, "Darn, well if you see one let me or Neville know. Oh and you two should probably change we're slowing down and I overheard someone saying we are close."

The girl and the boy, named Neville left after closing the door. Taking the girl's advice Harry and Daphne got their school robes out and Daphne left the compartment to change.

By the time Daphne came back into their compartment he was already changed and the train was stopping.

Hogwarts express finally slowed to a stop at Hogsmeade, a small little town right on the outskirts of Hogwarts.

Stepping out of the train**,** Harry was assaulted by the cold night air as he huddled closer to his robes.

"Firs' years, firs' years" A loud voice yelled over the sea of kids just getting out of the train. Looking over to the man herding his fellow school mates he saw that it was a very tall and a large man. He looked to be over eight feet tall**. **He was as wide as he was tall with a long brown beard to go with his long bushy hair.

"A'right, A'right ya firs' years follow me. My name's Hagrid**. **I'm the gamekeeper and keeper of keys and grounds for Hogwarts**.**" He bellowed with a little puff of his chest at the end. "I'm goin' to be showin' you lot where to go. Mind yer step, Hogwarts should be jus around this corner."

It truly was a majestic sight to behold. Right around the bend was the imposing castle that was Hogwarts. The chatter between the students increased as they excitedly whispered to each other about the vista.

Looking over his shoulder he noticed that had lost Daphne and had no idea where she was. Shrugging his shoulders he walked over to one of the boats that they were instructed to get on.

The boat already held three passengers and Harry made the fourth. With the boats loaded up with first years they sailed for Hogwarts.

The boat soon came to a stop at the end of the lake where Hagrid led them to the front doors of the castle and ushered them in. Inside was Professor McGonagall waiting for them in her usual emerald robes.

He smiled at her, which she returned. Waving them forward she led them to another set of doors. Turning around she addressed the first years.

"Welcome to Hogwarts, as you all are first years you will each be sorted during the welcoming feast in front of the school." She paused to let her word sink in, she continued. "The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking will lose them. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours."

Looking over the first years her eyes settled on Harry's and continued her speech. "The sorting will begin in a moment. I must repeat that you will be in front of the whole school including the staff and your future teachers. So I suggest you take this moment to look presentable."

She walked back into the hall as Harry fidgeted with his hair. Not knowing if she implied it specifically for him it still left him worrying about it. Sometimes he hated his messy hair.

While he was working over his hair he overheard a couple of boys whispering.

"I wonder how they sort us," the boy with short brown hair asked.

"My brothers told me that we'd have to fight a troll in front of the whole school! Depending on how we do they'll sort us that way." The boy who he remembered from the train named Ron whispered back.

Scoffing at the idea of such a thing Harry just muttered 'idiots' under his breath as the boy with brown hair paled believing every word the red head said.

"Don't be silly," a voice from behind the two boys said. "They would never do such a thing. They will probably sort us though our personalities and see which house we'd be more suitable for."

Agreeing with the bushy haired girl who he remembered was Hermione. That seemed like the likeliest case considering each house had a certain trait.

Thinking over which house his personality best suited**, **Professor McGonagall came back and beckoned them in.

Harry's stomach flip flopped as they walked in. There were thousands of candles lit, which were floating in midair, illuminating the whole hall. There were also four tables lined with golden plates, spoons and forks. Students sat all around the tables staring straight at the hoard of first years.

Trying to avoid their gazes Harry looked up to find, to his surprise, the dark night sky as freckles of stars littered the darkened night. Wondering how that was possible Harry heard the bushy haired girl named Hermione whisper to one their fellow first year.

"The ceiling is bewitched to look like the sky outside, I read it in **Hogwarts: A History**."

Nodding at the explanation Harry looked up front to see Professor McGonagall setting an old worn out hat on top of a stool. Not really understanding why she was doing such a thing Harry was surprised when the hat suddenly twitched, the rip near the brim opened and the hat began to sing:

_"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,_

_But don't judge on what you see,_

_I'll eat myself if you can find_

_A smarter hat than me._

_You can keep your bowlers black,_

_Your top hats sleek and tall,_

_For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

_And I can cap them all._

_There's nothing hidden in your head_

_The Sorting Hat can't see,_

_So try me on and I will tell you_

_Where you ought to be._

_You might belong in Gryffindor,_

_Where dwell the brave at heart,_

_Their daring, nerve, and chivalry Set Gryffindor's apart;_

_You might belong in Hufflepuff,_

_Where they are just and loyal,_

_Those patient Hufflepuffs are true and unafraid of toil;_

_Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_

_If you've a ready mind,_

_Where those of wit and learning,_

_Will always find their kind;_

_Or perhaps in Slytherin_

_You'll make your real friends,_

_Those cunning folk use any means_

_To achieve their ends._

_So put me on! Don't be afraid!_

_And don't get in a flap!_

_You're in safe hands (though I have none)_

_For I'm a Thinking Cap!"_

The entire hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song and bowed to all four tables. Listening in on the words of the hats song Harry was glad that all they had to do was put on the hat to get sorted.

Professor McGonagall stepped forward and said, "When I call out your names step forward and put on the hat to be sorted." She then unrolled a long piece of parchment and read:

Abbot, Hannah!

A pink faced girl with blonde pig tails came stumbling out of the line and put on the hat. After a moment**'**s pause it yelled, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

The table on the right erupted in cheers as she ran towards it.

After a few more students were sorted Professor called out a name that was familiar to Harry:

"Greengrass, Daphne"

He saw Daphne walk over to the stool and put on the hat. She looked different**;** while she was the same blonde haired and blue eyed girl he met in the train her facial expressions were completely different.

She didn't have any life in them while her face remained aloof and stationary. After a minute, or two, the hat screamed out its decision: "Slytherin!"

Pleased with the decision, Daphne calmly walked over to the house of snakes and took a seat next to her fellow house mates.

Clapping politely at the one person he met, besides Fred and George, he waited for his turn to be sorted.

Hermione Granger and Neville Longbottom were sorted into Gryffindor where Fred and George were sitting and clapping wildly. This came as a surprise to Harry, he figured the girl Hermione would have been a Ravenclaw considering her know it all attitude while he figured the boy Neville to be in any house other than Gryffindor. The boy looked to be a very timid and scared individual.

Not really quite understanding the decisions the hat made Harry returned his focus on the sorting.

A few more kids were sorted, none worth paying much attention to besides that one boy Draco Malfoy. Not even a second passed when the hat on the boy**'**s head declared him a Slytherin. That had to be the fastest sorting out of all the students Harry**,** thought to himself.

"Potter, Harry" Whispers broke out as his name was called. Harry had anticipated this happening. After finding out from Professor McGonagall that he was famous in the wizarding world he delve deeper into his fame and found him to be of high standings.

Calmly walking over to the stool Harry let the whispers pass him by and he put on the hat.

After putting on the hat Harry heard a voice in his mind as if it was whispering to him. "Hmm, what an intriguing mind you have. A good mind**,** very good."

Figuring that the hat sorted read their mind to make its decision**,** Harry couldn't help but feel a little violated at being opened up, even if it was just a hat.

"Do not worry little one, the things that I see within your mind are held guarded by myself. Not even the Headmaster could take the information that I have."

Feeling a little better at the hat**'**s statement Harry just stayed silent as the hat continued to contemplate his decision.

After almost five minutes Harry was beginning to lose his patience and feel a little embarrassed by the length it took to sort him.

"_Hurry it up will you__**?**__"_ Harry thought to the hat.

_"Hmmm, difficult, very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. There's talent and Oh my! So much power! There's also a nice thirst to prove yourself, and a lot of wit I see, also quite loyal to your friends but will not hesitate to hurt them if they hurt you! Hmmm…"_

The hat continued to sort through his mind not capable of making a decision that it believed to be the best for the young wizard.

After another five minutes**,** Harry was beginning to get frantic.

"_Just sort me into any of the houses."_

The hat stopped its muttering in his mind.

"_No preference at all?"_ It asked.

"_No!" _Harry nearly screamed in his mind.

After a few seconds the hat's mouth finally opened and yelled out its decision.

"_**GRYFFINDOR!"**_

_**Authors note:**_

_**Well I don't really have much to say in this note besides to thank Jucy Sam for Beta-ing this chapter for me. I also want to say that a**__**s I have no intention of abandoning this story I should warn you that**_ chapters will be coming in sparingly. You might get me on a good week with three or four chapters but for the most part only expect one or two. Other than that nothing else really.  


_**Enjoy and don't forget to leave me a review, **_

_**I'd like to get a few more and see what you guys feel about this story!**_


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or its character, those belong to J.K. Rowling.

Everything's An Illusion

Chapter 4

As soon as his house was chosen by the hat the whole hall exploded into cheer. Harry found it odd that the whole school was cheering for such a thing but he figured that they were just excited to get on with the feast, as he had taken up almost 20 minutes to get sorted.

Walking over to the tables designated for the Gryffindor house Harry sat down between a pair of first year boys that had been sorted just recently. They patted him on the back while he just gave a small smile in return.

Personally he really didn't care where he ended up, what mattered to him was to learn as much magic possible and walk the halls that his parents once roamed. It wasn't long before all the first years were sorted and Professor McGonogal took the stool and the hat away.

The headmaster, Albus Dumbledore got to his feet and said, "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts, now before we begin our feast I would like to say a few words and here they are; Nitwit, Blubber, and Bazooka! Enjoy your feast."

Harry just gave the odd man a puzzled expression while thinking to himself that their headmaster was barmy. His thoughts were broken as food suddenly appeared on the table. The astounding amount of delicious looking food had Harry's mouth watering. He quickly grabbed a pair of chicken legs, a nice helping of mashed potato's and gravy, all the while munching on a dinner roll.

Harry considered himself to be a pretty good cook, he's been cooking since he was just a young child, but the Hogwarts food that he was currently munching on was beyond the level of cooking he was capable of.

Looking around Harry noticed that everyone was talking and having a good time, eating the delicious feast that was prepared for them. He also noticed that almost everyone was eating something different. It was almost like each food that appeared before them was their preferred food. Shrugging to himself he went back to eating some of that delicious chicken.

About to take the last bite of his mashed potato a hand on his shoulder caused him to stop and turn to see who was trying to get his attention. Looking over his shoulder he saw that it was the Fred and George with large devilish grins on their faces. Having only known them for barely a few hours Harry figured they alway had a mischievous smile on their faces.

"Blimey Potter! Liking those chicken legs aren't you?" Fred said, or was it George? He should really give them name tags so he could at least differentiate them until he found their differences.

"I guess the train ride made me a little hungry." He said with a smirk, "plus pranking your brother really made me work up an appetite."

Both twins just laughed out loud causing a few kids around them to turn and give them a look, while Percy just settled with a glare. Harry just laughed along with them and received a glare from Percy as well. Getting his laughing under controlled Fred and George invited him to come sit with them and their friend. Shrugging yes since he was done with his food Harry stood up and followed them down the table towards where a lot of third years sat.

As Harry sat down next to Fred he looked up at the head table and saw the massive man Hagrid drinking deeply from his goblet. Professor McGonagall was talking to Professor Dumbledore, while a Professor with an absurd turban on his head was talking to a teacher with greasy black hair, a hooked nose, and pale white skin.

It happened very suddenly. The man with the turban turned his head from the pale greasy looking man and caught Harry's eye. It was all very sudden but a sharp pain in his head caused him to wince in pain.

"Ouch!" Harry clapped a hand to his head and closed his eyes waiting for the sudden sharp pain to subside.

"What's up Harry?" A dark skinned boy that was sitting across from him asked with a little bit of concern in his voice.

"N-nothing," Harry said opened his eyes as the pain finally subsided. It didn't last long but it definitely hurt. An ominous feeling came over Harry as he once again looked up towards the Head table to see the man with the turban again conversing with the greasy looking professor.

Looking back towards the people around him Harry noticed that they were all giving him concerned looks. Shaking his head to get rid of the lingering pain Harry just smiled and said he was fine.

Blinking to himself Harry turned towards the dark skinned boy that spoke to him prior to his headache. "Hey, how did you know who I was?"

The dark skinned boy just grinned and offered his hand to him, "The name's Lee Jordan, mate."

Harry shook his and and gave him a look that clearly said 'how do you know me'.

"Jeez Harry, everyone in this hall knows who you are," A girl with brown hair and dark brown eyes said.

Looking over to the girl Harry noticed that the two girls beside her were nodding their head along as if it was obvious. Practically slapping his head Harry should have known, he was famous in this world after all.

"Oh, right. My bad" Harry replied as he ran a hand to the back of his head and ruffling his hair in a sheepish manner. It really slips his mind sometimes that he gets this much attention from everyone when he was so used to being ignored for the better part of his life.

The girl just smiled back at him and offered her hand while introducing herself as Katie Bell. The other two girls sitting beside her introduced themselves as Alicia Spinnet and Angelina Johnson respectively.

Angelina was the shortest of the three with dark mocha colored skin with raven straight hair that went just past her shoulders. She was definitely a very pretty girl with hypnotizing dark brown eyes that were borderline black.

While Angelina had a dark mocha shade, Alicia was more of a light mocha colored that showed her middle eastern background. While not as pretty as the two girls beside her she looked to be a very intelligent and tough looking girl with dark piercing eyes and hair in two pigtails.

Looking back towards Katie, Harry thought she was the prettiest of the three girls. She had long-ish brown hair that reached the small of her back. While both Alicia and Angelina had very dark brown eyes Katie had unusually light brown eyes. She also looked like she wasn't any older than he was.

"We're all in the Quidditch team for Gryffindor," Fred said beside him.

"Me and Fred are the dynamic duo," George continued.

"The best beaters that ever was." The both said in unison as they clasped each other by the shoulder and spreading their arms out in a loud proclamation earning them a few laughs and giggles by the people around them.

"I'm the commentator for quidditch matches," Lee Jordan said while laughing at the twins theatrics. "These lovely ladies here are the most talented trio of chasers that the school has to offer." He said while indicating to Alicia, Angelina, and Katie.

The girls just blushed by the praise. "We're good but not that good Lee." Katie said in a small voice.

"Yeah, definitely one of the better one's the school has to offer but Ravenclaw definitely has a better group of chasers this year." Alicia said giving her two cents into the conversation.

"Well I think this little puffball has a point though." Angelina said as Lee bristled at the puffball comment, "We may not be the best here now but I think we will be the best by the end of our school year."

Harry just smiled as they continued to argue over quidditch. He didn't really know much about the sport so he opt to be quiet and let them converse among them selves.

It wasn't long before the Headmaster once again stood up and all the desserts disappeared the same way they appeared. The hall grew silent as the nutty man opened his mouth to speak.

"Just a few more words now that you've all eaten your fill. First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all students. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well."

Dumbledore's twinkling eyes flashed towards the Gryffindor table.

"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind all of you that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing should contact Madam Hooch. Also this year the third floor corridor is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a most painful death. Finally I must welcome Professor Quirrell to the school as he will fill the Defense against the Dark Arts post."

There was a quiet and polite applause as the man with the turban stood up.

"Alright then, first years follow your prefects back to your common rooms, off you go now" the headmaster said as his eyes twinkling happily.

Immediately the students filed out the hall as Harry said goodbye to his new friends and followed the rest of the first years being lead by Percy. Walking towards the dormitory they passed by a lot of moving portraits that talked and welcomed them to their first year in Hogwarts. At this point Harry had learned to just expect anything from the magical world from moving paintings to talking hats.

Coming to a stop the group of first years led by Percy came up a large portrait of a fat woman dressed in roman styled toga and a colorful wreath upon her head.

"Oh, first years how marvelous," The fat lady said as she sang out every syllable in a loud almost opera like style.

"This is the fat lady," Percy said while indicating to the woman trying to shatter a glass of wine with her voice. "As you can see she can be a bit, err eccentric."

The fat lady continued to attempt to shatter the glass end ended up smashing it against the wall when she thought no one was looking.

Looking pleased with herself the first year bunch just giggled at her. "To enter the common room you just have to tell her the password and she'll let you in."

Only mildly paying attention Harry was able to catch the last part and hear that the password was Bravery, as the portrait sprung open and led to the Gryffindor common room.

The room could be best described as 'bright' with many arched windows overlooking the surrounding mountains, all hung with heavy gold and red curtains to matching their house colors. To complete the "Gryffindor" color theme the floor was covered by a dark crimson carpet that looked to be very old, The room was filled with fat and cushy armchairs that looked quite comfortable to just sit at. The room also seemed to be rectangular in shape, with several stairs leading up to the student dorms. There was a fireplace with a fire already going beside the entrances to the dorms and nice little bookshelves to add the finishing touches.

"Wow." was all Harry could say, in his opinion, the room was perfect. There was even a small library shelf if you wanted a quick read and didn't want to make the trip all the way to the library.

Percy directed the first years to their dorms with the boys up the left stairs, and girls up the right stairs.

Quickly finding his room Harry saw that there were five beds in the room, quickly taking the one beside the window Harry began unpacking. It wasn't long before the rest of the first year boys made it to their rooms. He noticed that the two boys that he sat next to during the feast was there along with the red headed boy that was Fred and George's little brother. The last one to arrive was a rather timid looking boy that was a little on the obese side.

Quickly unpacking Harry took out a book, got into his bed and put the covers around his bed. Clear from prying eyes Harry took out his wand and attempted the very first spell of his life.

Tapping the curtains Harry muttered a silencing spell as a he felt a wave of magic leave him and course through his wand. Not completely sure if the spell worked Harry let out a loud scream to see if his room mates heard it. After a few seconds and no one checking on him he knew the spell had worked.

Harry may not have been able to cast any spells while he was stuck with the Dursleys but he read up on all the theories and methods to all the first year spells along with a few advanced one's. It wasn't the most ideal way to go about it but it was the best he could do and if he could cast an advance spell like the silencing charm on his first try then reading up on theories was a great way to practice before actually doing the real thing.

Giddy with excitement Harry attempted a few more spells, such as the color changing charm and the lumos spell. Figuring that he should go to sleep since he had a lot to do tomorrow he put his wand away along with his book and tucked himself in to sleep.

Harry awoke early the next morning as the sun's rays peeked over the mountain and shone in his face through the window of the first year boy's dorms. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he looked around for his glasses and used them to see the time, it was still only six in the morning and his roommates were still asleep. Deciding to get an early start to the day, Harry grabbed a pair of jeans, a shirt, and a fresh pair of underwear and headed into the showers to get ready for the day.

Coming out of the shower room, he was surprised to see that he had spent an hour getting ready; he figured he must have spent longer then he thought practicing clearing his mind. Harry headed down to the great hall to eat his breakfast, trying to remember the way to get there from his trip to the common room yesterday. One the way, he passed a poltergeist that tried to ambush him with dung bombs which he easily avoided.

Making it to the great hall in one piece Harry took a seat near the end of the table by himself and grabbed a plate of pancakes. Drizzling a good helping of syrup onto his pancakes Harry began to eat as Katie entered the hall and sat across from him.

Saying good morning to her the only respond he got back was a polite nod as she grabbed a plate and filled it with some eggs and toast. He figured she wasn't a morning person from the sluggish way she was acting opposed to the more energetic way she was acting the night before.

They ate in silence until the twins, Angelina, Alicia, and Lee Jordan joined them. As they all ate their breakfast Professor McGonogal passing around the schedules to the kids that were present at the moment. Coming upon Harry he turned to her to get his times table as she gave him a slight smile and handed him his schedule.

Thanking her Harry turned back to his food and noticed that everyone was gawking at him.

"Um, do I have something on my face?" Harry asked subconsciously raising his had towards his face.

Shaking his head Alicia just smiled at him and said no. "It's just weird, we hardly ever see Professor McGonogal smile. She's usually pretty uptight."

Just grinning at them. "Well I'm just full of surprises."

Standing up, since he was done with his breakfast, he told them that he'll see them later.

Once he was back to his room Harry got out a football from his trunk and set out to find a field where he could play and maybe dribble a little. Going out to the grounds Harry was met with many confused glances, and a few with a clear understanding of what he was carrying.

Setting the ball down on the ground Harry started with a few easy moves like cuts and some scissors to warm up a little. Once he had a good sweat going from the warm up he started to dribble a little for a few minutes. While dribbling he saw two tree's a good 15 yards aways that was the perfect distance away from each other to mimic a goal. With skill and precision he dribbled the ball and kneed it up a good 5 feet in the air. Turning his back from the tree's Harry jumped and ax kicked the ball in the air in a clear majestic movement that had the ball sailing right between the tree's, a clear goal.

Looking at where the ball had been placed Harry scowled at himself for the fact that it had been directly in the middle. Had there been a goalie there then it would have been easy to block. Dusting himself and a little annoyed at his lack of precision he was met with a loud applause from the surrounding audience that he had assembled.

Looking up he saw that Alicia, Lee, Angelica, and Katie were clapping. Blushing he went to retrieve his ball while the four followed him.

"Harry that was amazing!" Alicia gushed, "I've seen football in the telly before but and you were almost as good as they were!"

Blushing at her praise he mutter a thank you. Bending down to pick up his ball Harry turned to them and directed a question to Alicia.

"How do you know about football? I didn't know wizards followed muggle football"

Grinning Angelina answered for her, "We're all half bloods so we have the best of both worlds." she said with a wink.

Glad that others know how to play he asked them if they wanted to play a little pick up game. They all nodded and spend the rest of the afternoon kicking the ball around, having fun.

Around mid afternoon they called it quits and went to go take a shower before dinner. Harry stayed outside a little bit longer and bid they goodbye as he continued to dribble some more. Once again attempting the kick that Pele made famous Harry dribbled the ball high and jumped to attempt the ax kick.

The ball practically flew from his foot and through between the trees, this time more to the right and less centered where he was aiming for. Laying on his back proud at the little accomplishment he laid there enjoying the slight autumn breeze.

While he was laying on the grass a hand was extended to him. Looking up to see who the hand belonged to he saw that it was the girl that he sat with during the train ride, Daphne her name was.

Grabbing her hand and standing up he muttered a thank you while he dusted himself off. She just looked at him with cold blue eyes, definitely less friendly than when they were in the train, and just nodded at him.

She walked away without a word, tucking her hair behind her ear she looked back at him and gave him the slightest of smiles which he didn't notice.

Shrugging to himself Harry went to retrieve his ball.

Author's Note:

Hey everyone! I hope you guys haven't forgotten about this fic. Sorry it'd been a while since I've posted a chapter, but with the start of the new semester has had me busy with papers and tons of studying. I'm back now with this new chapter though and in the next few weeks there should be a lot more coming out. I've finally gotten Harry to Hogwarts and the divergence and differences in Harry should come out soon enough. I know this chapter wasn't the longest one I've written but the next couple should have more actions and interactions that will really make it worthwhile. Oh and this chapter hasn't been beta-ed so there will most likely be errors.

I really enjoyed the reviews so be sure to leave me some!

They sure do help to motivate me to write faster and longer chapters!


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or its character, those belong to J.K. Rowling.

Everything's An Illusion

Chapter 5

Having taken a shower after a long afternoon of playing football Harry grabbed a fresh pair of jeans and a plain green T-shirt to wear for dinner. Checking his wrist watch to see what time it was he saw that he still had a good hour before dinner was going to even be serve.

Grabbing his wand he decided that it was time to head to the library and see what the school had to offer. It's not that Harry's a bookworm or anything like that, though many people from his past school would say otherwise. He just likes to learn as much as he can, and it's always a lot easier when you know the material in class.

Magic was different though. He didn't study up on it just so school would be easier and be able to breeze through class. No, he was genuinely intrigued by everything it had to offer. The possibilities are endless when you're capable of bending the very essence of anything in existence.

Having already finished reading **A Guide to Magic Manipulation, **he noticed that it had never really had a clear boundary to what he'd be capable of. Sure it'd list off some exercise that would allow you to control magic better but it always had the clear message that there is no limit when it comes to magic.

Pondering the thoughts of endless possibilities Harry didn't even notice that he was already at the front of the library door. Pushing open the doors Harry was met with astonishment at the sheer amount of knowledge stored in the room.

There are study tables nestled throughout red carpeted rooms criss-crossed and walled with full bookshelves. Polished wooden catwalks overlooking the room, with stained-glass windows surrounding the whole room giving it a look of an old fashion cathedral like library.

It's definitely the biggest library Harry has ever seen in his life. Looking around the room he noticed that there were hardly anyone inside at all. That was probably due to the fact that classes hadn't even started yet and only the most serious of students would be here at the moment. Walking over to the first rows of books Harry skimmed through some of the titles.

Some books looked to be very old and worn out but some looked to be in pristine new condition. While skimming through some of the books, on book in particular caught his eye. It was called **Hogwarts: A History, **flipping through the pages Harry found the book to be quite informant. It listed all the the general locations of landmarks in the school such as the great hall, the headmasters office, and other locations. It was quite detailed with its history which Harry found fascinating.

"I absolutely loved that book," A voice said breaking his reading.

Looking up Harry saw it was the same bushy haired girl from the train that got sorted into Gryffindor with him.

"The amount of detail and information they put in the book made it a must read!"

Harry just started at her while she continued to ramble on about how much she loved the book. He thought it was a pretty good book too but he didn't think it was THAT great.

While the girl continued to talk about the book Harry raised his hand causing the girl to stop her gushing.

"Who are you?" Harry asked causing the girl to blush in embarrassment at the fact that she did not even care to introduce herself.

"I'm sorry, my name's Hermione Granger." The girl name Hermione said as she took a seat across from him.

Raising an eyebrow at her action Harry put down the book and stared at her. After a few moments of silence the girl started to fidget in discomfort. Sighing to himself Harry stood up and grabbed the book and went over to the shelves to put it away.

Looking back he saw that the girl was still sitting in the same spot. Not really caring Harry looked through some more of the books Harry decided to just check out the one's that caught his eye since it was almost time for dinner.

Walking over towards the librarian Harry checked out the three books that caught his interest and proceeded to go to dinner. After dropping off his stuff in his room Harry went to the great hall to eat.

* * *

Harry found his fame to be a very big annoyance. He was use to being left along and doing things without eyes on his but now it seems like everywhere he went whispers followed and fellow classmates shamelessly tried to see his scar. Some were even bold enough to come up to him during breakfast and demand that they show it to them. Honestly it must have been the dozen time he was stopped from eating his muffin just because some bloody bloke wanted to see his bloody scar.

Right when he was about to break and start showing everyone the hexes he learned from his studies a pair of voices caused him to stop.

"Good day there mate," It was the twins grinning that devil may care smile followed by Lee Jordan.

"Seems to me that our famous ickle Potter is being harassed by our fellow school mates, oh brother of mine." Fred said turning to his twin brother.

Grinning back at his brother George opened his mouth in reply, "It would seem so oh handsome brother of mine."

Both grinning at each other and took a seat on each of Harry's side and put their arms around him.

"Harry dear friend of ours, it would seem like the student body would just love for you to hand out autographs!" Fred said from his right.

"I'd bet many of the girls would even love a little kiss from their green eyed savior." George said from his left.

"Harry Potter the boy who lived!" They both proclaimed at the same time.

Huffing at their antics Harry just glared at the both of them and munched down on hi muffin while all three laughed at his expression.

"Honestly I don't understand what all the fuss is about. Don't they have anything better to do."

"Well," Lee drawled, "You are, how do I say this... famous"

Harry snorted at Lee's attempt at sarcasm.

"The oh so famous boy who vanquished the dreaded ark Lord," Lee continued as Fred and George re-enacted the scene with wild theatrics as Fred made a jabbing motion with his fork towards his twin who was flopping around as if he'd been the dark lord dying from baby Harry.

"With his great and powerful pacifier baby Harry Potter was able to make the Dark Lord fall to his knees in defeat!" Lee narrated as the twins continued with their performance now with Fred sucking his thumb still jabbing at George who was still seizing in re-enactment.

Harry just gave them a look that promised death and torture in the future. "I'll be going now," Harry said as he stood up from his seat. "I'll be late for transfiguration, and I have a feeling McGonagall is all about punctuality," Harry said while the boys continued to laugh at his fortune.

Making his way towards class Harry was still met with whispers from the various kids around him which he continued to ignore. Making it to class Harry took a seat in the far back corner and waited for class to start.

Within ten minutes all first years from Gryffindor and Slytherin were seated with the house of lions seated on the left side and the house of snakes on the right side. Not understanding the reason for the seating arrangement Harry was stuck on the snake side since he was the first one in the room and just took a seat anywhere.

Sitting next to him was a pretty smug looking boy with slicked back blonde hair, the amount of grease and jell put in his hair made his hair look wet and bright as it reflected the light around it. Keeping his eyes up front waiting for Professor McGonogal to start the lesson Harry played with his quill in boredom.

"Transfiguration is a branch of magic that focuses more on finesse then power," Professor McGonogal explained, "It is a very dangerous branch of magic in the hands of a master and thus, one of the most complex branches of magic, so I warn you now, anyone caught fooling around in my class will not be welcome back in the future." She looked around the room glaring at any kids as if threatening them to fool around in her class room.

Harry read up on transfiguration and it certainly caught his interest with the thought completely shaping things with magic. She ended her introduction by transfiguring her desk into a living pig that even gave out a few startled squeals before turning it back into an inanimate desk. The room clapped at the use of such advance magic causing excited whispers to break out through out the room at the prospect at wielding such magic.

"Transfiguration is a very systematic, exact magical discipline, working best for the scientifically-inclined mind, and as such it is deemed very hard work. It will be while before any of you are capable of doing such advance transfiguration." She said as she took a piece of chalk and started to write. "The intended transformation is directly influenced by bodyweight, viciousness, wand power, concentration, and intent."

The rest of the class wrote down the material as she continued to write down the theory of transfiguration. Having already learned that from reading a head Harry lazily write down the notes.

While writing the last few sentences on the board his writing was interrupted as the boy sitting next to him extended his had toward him.

"Draco Malfoy," He introduced himself, "Of the Malfoy clan, it's a pleasure to meet you Harry Potter."

Raising an eyebrow at the introduction Harry shook his hand and said nothing else as he looked back up towards the board.

"I believe that we should form a friendship that would benefit not just myself but yourself as well." The boy smiled in a faux friendly manner that Harry easily picked up on.

Not one to show his hand too early Harry smiled the same fake friendly smile while still looking up at the board and opened his mouth to speak, "And pray tell how a friendship with you would be beneficial." He continued to write down notes to give the impression that he was still paying attention to the lecture.

"I may be new to the wizarding world but I'm not blind enough to not notice the hostility between our houses." Putting his quill down and finally turning to look at Draco, Harry dropped his smile and cooled his features. "So tell me how I could benefit from you."

Picking up his quill and turning back towards Professor McGonogal, Harry wrote down the transfiguration guide that professor was listing.

Draco flinched at the act of such quick table turning and had him at the disadvantage. His father has taught his the art of politics at a young age. While this was far from the actual thing the rules still applied, and now he was essentially left sale's pitching.

Clearing his throat and schooling his features he put on his smile again and opened his mouth to speak, "Well I come from a very rich family," Draco started, "Having the approval of the Malfoy's goes a long way in the wizarding world so the friendship of the Malfoy heir would be very beneficial to any wizard."

Harry just made a 'hmm' noise as he continued to write down notes. Quickly getting annoyed at the lack of attention he was getting from the Potter boy he was about to snap at him to pay attention to what he was saying when professor McGonogal's voice cut him off.

"Mr. Malfoy! Please tell me that you've been paying attention."

Sputtering to respond back he could barely croak out yes at the sudden attention towards him from all the students in the class.

"Yes? Good then you can tell me what the four types of classifications for transfiguration are."

Draco could only remain quiet while the Gryffindor side of the room sniggered at his embarrassment. Turning a shade of red he muttered a 'sorry professor' as he took out his quill to show he'll pay more attention.

"5 points from Slytherin, Mr. Malfoy. Make sure to pay more attention, I do not have the patience for slackers in my class." She said as the Gryffindor side continued to snigger causing the strict professor to glare at them to stop.

Turning her attention back to Draco she shifted her gaze to the boy sitting next to him. "Mr. Potter, since you are sitting next to Mr. Malfoy then I would assume that you'll be able to help catch him up and tell us the four classifications for transfiguration."

In a lazy manner Harry listed the four classifications, "That would be transformation, vanishment, conjuration, and untransfiguration professor."

"Good, 5 points to Gryffindor. And Mr. Malfoy," She said causing Draco to look up at her, "Next time pay attention or you'll be having detention with Mr. Filch."

Nodding at her threat, Professor McGonogal was satisfied that she had made her point clear but not before giving both boys a look as if to say that she had her eyes on them and went back to teaching.

Still embarrassed at being caught Draco glared at his parchment and wrote down the notes on the board. While writing he saw letters forming on his parchment, 'we'll talk later'. Surprised by the note he looked to his side to see Harry smirking.

Nodding at the message Draco continued to write down the rest of the notes.

* * *

After the interaction between Harry and Draco no more words were spoken between the two boys as they kept their eyes up front. Once done with notes they had the last 10 minutes to attempt their first piece of transfiguration.

For the rest of class they were instructed to turn a matchstick into a needle. After a demonstration from Professor. McGonogal everyone was given a matchstick to practice with.

Harry stared at his matchstick while the various students around him attempted the task with no such luck. Harry hadn't attempted to turn his matchstick into a needle yet but he was going through his head at what he had read up.

Transfiguration is a very tricky art as it needed a clear mind, a clear vision of what you want, and the intent to turn your object to what you desired. It required control and not as much power as some other branches of magic which made it very skill oriented.

Taking a deep breath Harry pictured in his mind the process and willed his magic from his core to his wand outwards towards the matchstick. Tapping the matchstick with his wand Harry was able to turn the matchstick into a needle on his second try.

At first he was only able to change the shape but once he had a clear understanding and the feeling of how to shape his magic he was able to do the task on his second try. Now with a needle Harry figured he should be able to turn it back to its original state and found that it was easier to turn the needle back into a matchstick.

Harry had continued to change the matchstick in to a needle and vice-versa for the remainder of the lesson and had learned something else about Transfiguration that he found interesting; the more times he performed the same spell, the easier it became to do.

When McGonagall had seen him turning his match stick into a needle and needle into a match stick repeatedly at the end of the lesson, her eyes widened slightly before offering Harry a rare smile that looked foreign on the stern witch's features; the attention served to embarrass him slightly.

After awarding him 10 points for being the only one to to master the spell in such a short time she let them leave. He was embarrassed at the points but it annoyed him that the girl from the library, Hermione, was glaring at him because of it.

Huffing he picked up his books and set out to go to his next class. Charms was the class he was most excited about since it was going to be taught by Professor Filius Flitwick, who he heard was a former dueling champion.

Excited with the prospect of learning the branch of magic he was most interested in by such a competent practitioner his annoyance vanished.

As he was about to leave his way was blocked by Draco who was backed by two boys.

"Leave us Crabbe, Goyle." Draco made a shooing motion as the two gorilla's went outside. "I will meet you tonight at the owlery after dinner Potter."

Nodding at his proposal Harry walked around the boy heading for his next class. He certainly was intrigued by the proposal by the Mafoy boy but he wasn't naive enough to believe that the rest of the Gryffindor house would be okay with him interacting with a Slytherin.

For some reason there's tension between the two house and hate that seems to be more than just school rivalry. He wasn't interested in house rivalry but at the same time he didn't want anymore attention brought on to himself.

Pondering his next move while walking to Charms he found that he was once again early and found himself the first to make it there. Taking a seat near the front this time as he was more interested in this branch of magic.

After a few minutes students started to enter and take their seats. This time Gryffindor is sharing class with Ravenclaw and unlike the Gryffindor/Slytherin class there wasn't a division of the two houses like in transfiguration. Ravenclaw sat near Gryffindor and some even sat with kids from the other house.

Clearly there's more than a little to the house rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin.

Once class started Harry found himself sitting next to a girl from Ravenclaw named Lisa Turpin. Professor Flitwick was a very short guy, so short that he had to sit on a pile of books to look over his own desk.

He had spent the most of the class going over the basic Levitation charm with the first years, a charm that Harry took one try to master - he didn't think it was that difficult. So, instead of listening to the endless repetition of the incantation "_Wingardium Leviosa_", he read ahead in the coursework and quietly practiced the rest of the charms they were set to learn in their first year.

When Professor Flitwick had asked why he wasn't doing any of the work, he had quietly responded by levitating his lesson's handout sheet to the shocked professor and continued with his independent study.

* * *

Harry found the lesson to be a little disappointing but he should have know that they'd start with he simplest charm spell. Having studied a head of the curriculum Harry felt that he would find most of his classes boring.

His last class for the day was Defence Against the Dark Arts with Professor Quirrel. It was pretty uneventful. At first he was weary about the guy due to the pain he received during the feast but after a whole class with him he never got the same painful shock like his did during the feast.

Thinking it was just a coincidence Harry found the guy to be okay besides the fact he smelled like garlic, which he said warded vampires away, and the fact he stuttered every sentence.

The man was barmy but an okay teacher so he couldn't really complain that much. Feeling like he didn't really learn that much from his first day in class Harry decided to try and find an empty classroom to try out some of the spells that he's been reading up on.

For the most part he found spell casting to be pretty simple but he figured it was only because it was some of the simpler spells that they were working on at the moment and that it was only going to get harder from there.

Finding an empty classroom in the Defense hall Harry put down his bag on top of one of the desks and took out a book. The book was one of the books he checked out from the library, it was a beginners charms book.

Having already read a good portion of the book during charms Harry wanted to attempt some of the spells that he read.

Taking out his wand Harry attempted the _Lumos_ charm and was disappointed with his lack of success. Instead of a bright light emitting from the tip of his wand all he got was a little light that was barely as bright as a candle light.

He know magic wasn't going to be easy but it was still disappointing to only create such a pitiful light. Sighing to himself Harry got to work and proceeded to practice until he felt that he had a good grasp on how to properly use the spell.

A good hour later, Harry felt that he had made good progress with his spell work. Instead of a small candle like light he could now produce a light almost as strong as a flashlight. While it wasn't as strong as the spell should be, he should be able to light up a whole room no problem with the spell. It was good progress and still put him a head of most of the kids in his year.

Harry packed up his things and returned to his room. After dropping off his things in his room Harry made his way to the great hall to get some dinner. On the way he bumped into Angelina and Alicia.

"Hey Harry!" Angelina said while waving to him.

Alicia just smiled and waved at him as he said hello to them.

"How was your first day of classed?" Angelina asked as her and Alicia walked beside him.

"It was good, a little disappointed but it was good." Thinking back on his day he found it eventful with the Malfoy boy's proposition.

Angelina gave him a reassuring smile, "Well don't worry, I'm sure things will get better." Alicia just nodded beside her.

Harry noticed that Alicia didn't tend to talk to much. She was usually quiet and only spoke when she had something to say. While Angelina was much more social and talkative, they certainly made for an odd mix.

"You know you're the talk of the school," Alicia spoke in an even tone as she moved her head to face him, "They say you've had Professor McGonogal and Professor Flitwick talking about your spell work already."

Groaning at the fact that it just gave more fuel for others to talk about him. He didn't think he showed off too much, they were just simple spells with hardly any spell work to actually make work.

Walking into the great hall they were joined by the twin and Lee as they took a seat near the middle of the table. Harry could still feel the eyes boring into him as he piled his plate with food and the whispering was starting to get on his nerves.

"So Harry do you know how to play quidditch?" Lee asked distracting him from the talking around him.

Shaking his head, "I've never even heard of the sport until you guys mentioned it the other day."

He was met with shocked faces as he continued to eat his food not giving them a glance. He was interrupted mid bite when George grabbed him by the shoulders and turned him towards himself causing Harry to spill the food on his fork and get it all over his face.

"Oi! What the hell man!" Harry said pissed that he had pieces of rice in his hair.

"What do you mean you've never heard of quidditch!" George exclaimed with the rest of the gang nodding along.

"I've lived with my muggle aunt and uncle for all my life," More pissed off at the fact that he had food stuck on his face, "I hardly know anything about the wizarding world."

Once again he was met with shocked faces as Katie finally arrived and took a seat next to Harry.

"What's up with everyone?" Katie asked indicating to everyone with their mouths still open in shock.

Turning to Harry, "What did you do Harry?" Katie asked with an accusing tone.

Glaring at her, "What do you mean what I did," Harry asked while pointing to the mess on his face "They're the one's who made me spill food on myself."

Noticing the mess on his face and the rice stuck in his hair Katie couldn't help but giggle a little while Harry grumbled about stupid red heads causing the rest of the gang to awaken from their stupor.

"But it's in your blood!" Fred manage to squeak with a voice going a few octaves higher than normal causing Harry to smirk and Fred to flush red in embarrassment.

"Yeah Harry, you're dad was one of the greatest chasers in the history of Hogwarts" Angelina said.

This caught Harry's attention as he's always looking to learn more about his parents no matter how little of information it is.

"Gryffindor's always produced great chasers," Angelina continued sounding very proud considering she's one of the Gryffindor's current chaser, "Right now we're the youngest group of chasers in almost half a century with Katie being the youngest since your dad."

Katie blushed in embarrassment when Harry turned to him with an astounded look.

"I-i'm not that great." Katie spoke embarrassed that all the attention was directed towards her.

Snorting in an un-lady like fashion Alicia opened her mouth to speak, "Katie you'll probably be better than all of us eventually and you made the team last year in your first year."

Looking at the girls in a new light Harry never knew they were so good that they're one of the youngest to play. Even though he didn't know how to play he was still pretty impressed with their achievement.

"So now do you understand why we're so surprise that you know nothing about quidditch?" Lee asked getting into the conversation, "I mean your dad could have turned professional if he didn't become an auror."

Nodding in agreement Harry could see where they were coming from. If he met Pele's, one of the greatest football player of all time, son and found out he didn't know what football was then he would be just as surprise.

The rest of dinner he was bombarded with quidditch rules and strategies that they believed should be 'basic must knows' for someone like him.

"We may not have any chaser spots open but I'm sure if you're as good a flyer as your dad was then you'd probably win the seeker spot next year." Angelina winked as her and the girls walked away with the twins and Lee trailing behind.

Mulling over the thought of flying as he made his way to the owlery to meet with Draco, Harry considered the possibilities. Putting the thought in the back of his mind Harry thought about the proposal that the Malfoy heir had offered him.

While he didn't have a problem having the Malfoy backing, it would seem like the rest of the school would have something to say against it. Ever since their meeting during transfiguration Harry had kept his ear on the ground, so to say, and dug up a little information on the Malfoy family.

Asking a few of his friends and his room mates about the Malfoy he was met with a lot disapproval. Apparently the Malfoy's were considered to be a dark family and not one to mingle with.

While Harry had no qualms with light or dark magic he still had to consider how this would affect him.

It didn't take him long to make it to the owlery. He found that Draco was already there with his buffoons following behind him like before.

"Who are they? You're muscles" Harry asked smirking as the two prepubescent kids tried to flex what little muscles they have. "I'd like it if we have this conversation in private, as much as like watching your 'friends' make a fool of themselves." Harry said while emphasizing on the friends part.

Draco nodded and snapped his fingers and shooed the two boys away leaving the two alone to talk.

"Wow, they're trained too!" Harry exclaimed in fake astonishment.

Getting tired with his theatrics Draco made a move to speak but was cut off by Harry.

"I accept your proposition." Harry said while extending his hand toward the blonde.

Caught off guard at the blunt acceptance Draco could only numbly nod and shake his hand.

"I have a few rule though," Harry drawled, "I want this to be kept a secret."

Harry figured that if no one knew about their friendship then there would be no negative backlash directed at him. He knew that Draco was only using his fame for his own benefit so if the whole friendship was kept a secret then the advantage would severely tip towards his side.

Draco could only agree not really thinking over the implications of such an arrangement and how it left him with little to no power in their agreement. All he could think about was how he had made his father proud gaining the friendship of the boy who live.

Smiling at how things turned out Harry left the owlery after telling Draco that they'll speak again some other time, leaving the young Malfoy heir to himself.

Smirking at his achievement Draco walked towards his owl and took out a letter from his pocket. Attaching the letter to the owl's leg and instructed it to bring it to Malfoy Manor. Watching the bird fly away Draco took out a second letter from his pocket and proceeded to rip it up.

"Good thing I didn't have to send that letter out to father" Draco said to himself.

**Author's Note:**

**Hey guys! I was able to find some time to write up this chapter so it's coming in early! A few people have commented on the fact that Katie shouldn't be in the quidditch team just yet because she's only in her second year and try outs aren't until after quidditch classes. Well in my story Harry's only the youngest seeker in a century, not the youngest quidditch player. Albeit he'll still be younger than Katie when he first play but that's besides the point. This is not beta-ed so there's most likely some grammatical error, ignore those and I'll eventually polish it up when I have the time or patients to do it. On one last note I'd just like to say I find that so many fanfiction readers to be cynical. I get that you guys have this expectations when you read but give my writing a little trust before assuming I won't be able to pull this all together and deliver you a story that meets your expectations. Harry literally just started attending Hogwarts, the story's just begun. Anyways I hope you guy's enjoy the extra chapter this week!**

**Keep reviewing!**

**I want to hit at least 100 reviews before my next chapter, that'd be really nice!**


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or its character, those belong to J.K. Rowling.

Everything's An Illusion

Chapter 6

The couple month in Hogwarts hadn't really been that eventful. Besides the usual prank Harry would help set up with the twins, he found himself getting into a bit of routine.

He would wake up early to continue his regular exercise routine, that he's kept up since joining the football club pre-Hogwarts. He would then take a nice long shower to help relax him before heading to breakfast where he'd sit by himself or with the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Breakfast was usually a pretty big affair since it seemed to be the only time that the group of friends had the same schedule for a meal. With the amount of school work they were getting, lunch or dinner would be skipped by various members of the group in order to cram and study for up coming tests or homework.

School work hasn't really been tough on Harry for the most part. While he had a bit of trouble with charms he was still considered to be one of the top students in the class. Unfortunately the standards that Harry had set for himself was a little higher than what the school considered of him. Not wanting to fail his own expectations he's made time every night before dinner to work on his spell casting and magic control.

While he had finished reading **A Guide to Magic Manipulation** he still reread and added notes into the book while performing the various exercises that book had to offer. He could tell that his grasp on magic was improving. Little by little he gained more awareness of his magical core and how his magic fluctuated when performing spells. Of course he still had a ways to go before he was satisfied with his progress.

He found that he really excelled in Defense against the Dark Arts. It only served to boost his image of 'the savior' but slowly people have started to regard him with a bit of weariness. His cold eyes and aloof manner usually had other students settling for watching him from a far instead of the earlier approach others had of coming up to him. Of course the one incident with the two second years in the courtyard didn't help.

Smirking a bit at the memory, Harry thought back to the incident that made the others finally stop bothering him.

_*Flashback*_

_Harry entered the dungeon with more excitement that any of his fellow Gryffindor. Potions quickly became his favorite subject when he was reading a head stuck stuck with the Dursley's for the summer. The science behind the whole thing intrigued his curiosity but the similarities it shared with chemistry, which was his favorite subject in grade school, only heightened his interest. Taking a seat near the front of the room Harry took out his parchment and quill eager for the professor to enter and begin the lesson._

_He had read up on some of the teachers in Hogwarts to get a better feel of what his education was going to be like. He wasn't disappointed as each of the teachers were powerful witch and wizards in their own field of subject. But the one man that caught Harry's attention the most was the Potions professor, Severus Snape._

_Considered to be a prodigy at an early age in the arts of Potion making he quickly rose up the ranks to become a Potions master shortly after his graduation from the very school he currently taught. A man who was also regarded to be an amazing talent in Defense against the Dark Arts. A position he's been pushing for, for years. Ironically was regarded to be a possible dark magic user._

_His talents in the ways of magic had Harry excited for the class to begin. He excitement would be soon quenched as the wooden doors of the dungeon swung open and close as a man with scowl on his face walked in. Scoffing as he walked towards his desk at the front of the room. The robes he wore billowing behind him strengthen the aura of pure malice the man emitted._

_Turning towards the students Professor Snape glared as he regarded the vermin's around him. Opening his mouth he spoke in barely a whisper, but surely everyone could hear him._

_"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art that is Potions brewing" he began, his voice just screamed, despite its low tone, that if you interrupted him there would be pain "As there is very little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will believe that this isn't magic. I hardly expect for you to see the beauty in the softly simmering cauldrons with their shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that seep through your veins that can bewitch your mind or ensnare your senses"If you pay attention in my class, I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory or even stopper death - that is of course if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."_

_He finished off his speech with a sneer that seem to be permanently on his face. Like the other teachers Professor Snape was made to go through the class registry. Calling out names to the joint Huffupuff/Gryffindor class only to stop once he reached Potter._

_"Ah yes, Harry Potter" he began, spitting out his surname as if it were a disease "a true phenomenon that you would end up in the house of the foolishly brave," With clear sarcasm drippin from his voice, "clearly the apple doesn't far from the tree." he finished snidely. Many of the first years looked on between the two in confusion while Harry's eyes merely narrowed slightly, not willing to take the bait and give this man a reason to punish him._

_Locking eyes with the rest of the students in the room causing many of the kids to shift uncomfortably in their chairs._

_"Weasley!" Snape barked causing a good amount of students to jump in surprise "what Potion would I administer to someone to cure Petrifaction?"_

_The boy could only stutter an in comprehensive reply causing the man to sneer in disgust once again while taking 5 points from Gryffindor. He continued this Q and A around the room until he stopped in front of Harry's desk._

"_Potter, name an ingredient used in the makings of a Love Potion."_

_"Frozen Ashwinder eggs, eye of newt, a unicorn tail hair, and powdered horn of Garaphorn" he listed off automatically. Having read a head Harry was confident in his answers and was sure that he could answer any first year potions question._

_The mans eyes narrowed, "Lucky guess," the man paused as if considering who to ask a question "Potter, let's try again, for what purpose would I use shredded boomslang skin for?"_

_Harry, after hearing the question, frowned in annoyance, but those around him merely assumed he was thinking. He knew the answer; it was to create a Polyjuice potion, a potion that allowed you to take on the appearance of someone else if you had a sample of their DNA for one hour. The problem with knowing the answer though was simple - he really shouldn't. What reason could he possibly come up with for knowing the answer to such an advanced question that no first year should know unless they had been reading ahead to fifth year material - which he had not done for Potions. The only reason he knew of the potion was due to Fred and George's prank which required the use of Polyjuice._

_Deciding that it would be safe to take a dive, he answered, "I don't know sir."_

_The man stared at and frowned. "I suppose you wouldn't" the man replied._

"_5 points for not reading ahead like your classmates."_

_Harry just dismissed it, the man obviously hated him, so let him have his fun and take points - he could easily win them back in other classes anyway._

_"Well, why aren't you writing this down?!" he barked to the Hufflepuffs who had looked at the knowledge battle with confusion mostly. There was a sudden rummaging for quills and parchment as those who hadn't been taking notes began to do so._

_For the remainder of that lesson, Snape had them brewing a simple potion to cure boils after having them pair up and set up their tables correctly._

_Harry was stuck paired up with the bushy haired girl that he had met in the library. Harry was amused at how much care the girl took in setting up their cauldron, burner and ingredients that they gathered from the class's stores._

_The girl was thorough and cautious, making Harry chuckle a little bit to himself. Taking point in the potion making with Harry doing the actual brewing, having proved how skillful he was at the task while Hermione, I think was her name, prepared all the ingredients to the specification of Harry's instructions. Snape, meanwhile, glided around the room observing the other student's potions, taking, in Harry's opinion, a sick glee in tormenting the Hufflepuffs._

_As Harry was crushing the snake fangs to add to the potion, a loud sizzling and bang was heard from across the room. It seemed that the Weasley boy's partner, a rather chubby boy, had done something wrong causing their cauldron to melt._

_"Idiot boy!" chided Snape, as he inspected the damage. "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire? Why do you dunderheads make this mistake every year?" he asked rhetorically in exasperation. "Weasley, take him to the infirmary and that will be 10 point from Gryffindor for not stopping him blowing up my classroom!"_

_Harry narrowed his eyes at the blatant unfair treatment Snape was delivering to the other students in the class._

_"Why do you suppose the Professor deems it necessary to belittle and verbally attack all of the first years? He seems rather childish and immature for doing so." Harry spoke to the girl for the first time besides instructions for the potion._

_Harry was surprised when the comment almost caused Hermione to mess up cutting an ingredient, but she regained herself and finished the final preparations for the potion before turning to Harry._

_"I'm sure Professor Snape has a good reason, he is a professor after all" The girl said in a-matter-of-fact tone that left no room for arguments._

_Harry just scowled at the blind faith the girl had for professors. A bookworm through and through he was surprise that the girl wasn't sorted with the birds._

_Harry noticed that Professor Snape was behind them causing him to break his train of thought._

"_This is a perfectly brewed potion.." the man said with narrow eyes before he got a wicked gleam in his eyes that Harry recognized and attributed to someone losing house points very soon._

_"Thought you could mooch off of Ms. Granger's hard work did you Potter? That'll be 5 point for your laziness," he said before bottling a bit of the potion and stalking off. The girl just smiled with pride having been praised by a professor._

_Rolling his eyes, Harry gathered his things and left the dungeon. No__t bothering to argue his lost points, since he could easily make them back up,_

_With such nice weather Harry decided to go out into the courtyard and do the last bit of transfiguration homework that he has left instead of doing it in the library cooped up from the sun._

_Setting his bag down Harry took out his parchment that contained his unfinished transfiguration homework. Sighing in content Harry loved the peace he felt at the moment as he ran his fingers along the grass he sat on and smiling as he looked up to the tree that shaded him from the bright sunlight._

_Smiling he quickly got to work since he only had an hour before the joint Slythering/Gryffindor flying lesson for first years, which was going to be held at the other courtyard._

_Within the hour he was able to finish off the last bit of transfiguration homework he had and with the spare time to even read ahead. Looking around he saw that there were a few more students doing the same thing he was, studying and working. Smiling at his productiveness he glanced down the watch on his wrist and found that he was already 15 minutes late for the lesson! Quickly packing his things he was interrupted by two boys._

"_Well if it isn't ickle 'Arry Potter," the bigger of the two boys said. They were both a little on the heavy side and looked to be only a year or two older than Harry. The bigger of the two boys didn't really have any distinct features besides his potato nose, while the other boy had erratic brown hair that stuck in various ways. The two made a comical pair which Harry would have commented on had it been any other time but since he was late enough as it was he said nothing and made a move to go around them._

_The boy with erratic hair moved in front of him blocking his way causing Harry to stop and narrow his eyes. "Ah ah ah, we were having a conversation Potter," the boy in front of his said. "Yeah," the boy with the potato nose said "it's rude to walk away from a conversation you know that don't you Potter."_

_The students in the courtyard picked up on the confrontation that was developing and stared at what was going to happen._

_Harry, not liking that his good mood was spoiled and that everyone was now staring at him again started to get angry._

"_I have to be some where and if you don't move aside.." Harry left the statement hanging as he glared at the two older boys while his hand twitched for his wand._

_The two boys just laughed, thinking the younger boy was being 'cute' with them._

_Finally having enough with their antics Harry whipped out his wand and with a yell of 'Agumenti' a stream of water burst from his wand soaking the two boys while knocking them down onto the wet ground._

_The boys had shocked faces not prepared for the attack which quickly turned into anger at their now soaked robes. "Y-you're dead meat Potter," the boy with erratic hair yelled, causing various people around the courtyard to snigger._

_Harry pointed his wand towards the tree behind him and muttered 'parva scintilla' causing a stream of electricity to burst from his wand hitting the tree leaving a slight black mark. Turning back towards the two boys Harry spoke in a silent dangerous tone. "Leave me alone or I'll fry you."_

_The two boys gulped and Harry stepped over them and walked away. The rest of the people in the courtyard spoke in hushed whispers about the Potter boy and his actions. One thing was certain, by the end of the day the rest of the school knew not to mess with him._

_*End Flashback*_

Harry smiled at the memory as it had made the whole student body stop bothering him. Even if he had to do an extra 20 laps around the courtyard during flying lessons because he was late it was well worth it. Plus he didn't mind flying at all so the few extra laps weren't that bad.

Harry rubbed his eyes tiredly after temporarily removing his glasses. He could currently be found sitting alone in his dorm room with a multitude of books opened around him with random pieces of parchment covered in his notes strewn all over his desk.

After a couple months reading ahead and practicing during his own time Harry was almost completely done with all the spells needed for the first year. Exhausted from his tiring schedule Harry figured it was time for him to go to bed.

Taking off his glasses and laying down on his bed, which was still covered with opened books and pieces of parchments. Not caring about the mess Harry closed his eyes and went to sleep knowing tomorrow was going to be a big day since it would be Halloween.

* * *

Since it was Halloween night a feast was set up for dinner. The hall was decorated with various black and orange designs while the ceiling was was charmed to look like thunder clouds instead of its usual clear stary visual. The floating candles had carved pumpkins around it to make the usual Halloween jack-o-lantern and the tables were covered with an orange table cloth. Various sweets and juices covered the now orange tables as the students sitting on them laughed and talked among themselves.

Harry smiled politely as Lee told a joke that had the twins spraying out pumpkin juice from their mouths and noses causing the girls to scold them in disgust. Harry's mind was far away in thought and stealthily snuck out of the hall while the group was laughing at the twins misfortune dealt by Angelina.

Walking out of the noisy hall wasn't that hard since everyone's attention was somewhere else. Harry just couldn't help but feel a little melancholy during the holiday. While he never knew them, finding out that his parents had died on the night of hallows eve sort of took the joy out of the holiday for him.

It wasn't that Harry was depressed or anything. He grew up without a mother and father so it's not like their death weighed in on his mind constantly but on a night like this he couldn't help but think of them.

He didn't even know what they looked like. He knew that he looked like his dad, from what Professor McGonagall has told him, with his mothers eyes. That doesn't really paint much of a picture for him since he was only 11 it was hard for him to imagine what a grown up version of him would look like. He didn't even know what his mom would remotely look like.

It was a depressing topic but his mind just kept thinking about those kinds of things. Lost in his thoughts Harry didn't noticed that he had made it all the way to the thirds floor. Opening the door in front of him Harry found a an empty room with only one thing in it. The desks were pushed against the far side of the wall but what caught Harry's attention was a towering mirror that was positioned in the middle of the classroom.

Harry stepped closer to the mirror, noticing the mirror had an ornate golden frame; it stood on two clawed feet. He curiously looked up to see an inscription at the top of the mirror but he couldn't understand the gibberish that was written, so he turned his eyes to the mirror itself.

Harry nearly toppled backwards at what he saw in the mirror. The mirror was not only reflecting him but the faces of his parents Lily and James Potter, both of whom were smiling at him. He didn't know what they looked like before hand but for some reason he just knew. He knew without a doubt that the two in front of him were his parents. He stepped closer examining the images of his parents until he was so close to the glass that his nose was nearly touching it.

The woman he didn't recognize had tears in her eyes and was clutching the dark haired man's hand. The woman had beautiful red hair and the most intense green eyes. It took Harry a moment to recognize them, but then he understood. They were his green eyes.

"Mum? Dad?" Harry asked weakly.

The two people in the mirror nodded to him, and Harry fell to his knees breathing hard. Questions filled his mind like how is this possible? How can they be here? Are they real? Are they Ghosts? Can I talk to them? Are they real?

"Are you really here?" Harry asked his voice cracking.

The two smiled and nodded. He felt a wetness on his face, bringing his had up towards his face he felt the tears streaming as the woman put her arms around him and kissed him on the cheek. Harry just touched his face where the kiss had been, but he felt nothing just the wet tears but not a kiss. It was like these people just existed in the mirror.

He sat there. He didn't know for how long, but he just sat there staring at the family he never had while the tears continued to flow from his eyes. He watched as his parents held a small bundle with messy black hair. They cared for it, for him. He was the baby that the woman with red hair held.

The man with glasses would play with the baby in the woman's arms causing the little bundle of messy black hair to giggle, but no noise would come out.

He was mesmerized by the mirror. It tugged at his heart causing those feelings of suppressed want and love to come out. He's always been strong. He's never needed anyone. Yet this mirror was showing him what he yearned of.

Captivated Harry never realized the door to the room opening as a troll about 8 feet tall enter the room. It's pale-grey hand holding a club the size of a guitar dragged behind it as it made its way into the room.

Completely unaware with his surroundings Harry continued to stare at the mirror that's brought him this image of his parents. He watched the family he never have laugh and love one another only to have it shatter in his face.

Harry's eyes widened as the mirror in front of him was shattered by a troll. Its club smashed against the mirror causing the image of his parents to shatter in hundred little shards of glass.

Harry's hand trembled as his picked up a fairly large shard of glass and looked into it. What he saw made his heart drop. All he saw was his reflection. The beautiful red haired goddess and the strong loving man was gone replaced only with his face. Harry clutched the piece of glass hard causing the shard to dig into his hand slicing it open.

Blood dripped from hand as he looked up towards the troll its club raised up on its shoulder as is proud of what its done.

Harry put away the shard of glass into his pocket as he took out his wand. His hair covering his eyes standing against the troll twice his size, unmoving. The ugly thing roared as a few spittle shot out of its mouth. Raising the large club over its head it gave off another roar before bringing the club down.

Rolling to his right to avoid the club Harry quickly raised his wand and jabbed it forward and screamed. Screaming in anger, pain, and all of his pent up aggression. He just screamed as magic began to coarse through his body. Subconsciously drawing magic from his core Harry eyes glowed an angry green, the same color as the curse that gave him his most famous scar. The magic pulsated around him as bright blue waves of magic pulses radiated from him. The tip of his wand was glowing blue as it held back a ton of magic.

The wand shook under his grasp until finally the magic that was being held in the wand shot out as waves and waves of pure magical energy was shot out heading for the troll. Still recovering from missing its target the troll was completely caught by surprise by the beam of energy that hit it.

Caught strait in the stomach the troll help its ground for a second until it was thrown off by the magic causing it to fly and skid across the floor covered in glass shards.

Harry slumped down in complete exhaustion, physically as well as mentally. The troll laid unmoving from across the room as its body was covered in cuts and shards from the mirror it had destroyed.

Before closing his eyes from pure exhaustion Harry was able to make out two figures that left him smiling.

"Mum, Dad?" Harry muttered before he let himself succumb to the darkness.

**Authors Note**

**Hey guys! It's been a while hasn't it. Sorry for the long delay for this chapter. I just haven't had the motivation to write with all things happening in my life at the moment. But I was able to some how find a bit of motivation and write this up! It's unbeta-ed like the other chapters but I went over this chapter making corrections on the ones I could find so hopefully it's not too bad but since it was my writing the things that sounds like it makes sense in my mind might not sounds perfect to everyone. Anyways I did what I can with it and the first year should be pretty much done there's probably only like 2 or 3 chapters left until summer going into Harry's second year. So I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!**

**Don't forget to Review and let me know what you think!**


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or its character, those belong to J.K. Rowling.

Everything's An Illusion

Chapter 7

"_Please, you can do what you want with me but leave my baby boy." A voice pleaded._

_A laugh echoed in the darkness. It was a laugh filled with glee and absolute malice. Everything turned white as a bright flash swallowed the darkness. A scream soon followed._

Harry sat up breathing hard while sweat covered his entire body. What was that he asked himself. Looking around he saw that he was in the infirmary. Curtains blocked his view as he grasped the white sheets he was laying on tightly.

Looking around he saw only darkness and shadows of the items around the room. Grasping at his chest to calm his erratic heart beat. Harry took deep breaths to calm his nerves.

Trying to figure out what he was doing in the infirmary but was met with only a headache. Grasping his head all he could remember was shattering glass and the rest was hazy at best.

As he laid back down onto the bed pieces of the night finally returned to him. The mirror that showed him his parents. The troll, the anger, the sadness that he felt. It all came crashing back with a force that had Harry tightly closing his eyes as beads of tears welled up.

He wiped his tear stricken face but the tears just kept pouring out. Laughing a humorless laugh at the situation he continued to laugh as he kept crying.

He finally had what he's aways wanted and the second he got it, it was taken away from him again. It was just so unfair. It hurt having to keep everything at arms length and having finally let his guard down, even if it was just an illusion, only to have his world shatter before his eyes. He continued to laugh, he continued to cry.

Looking down at his bandaged left hand he remembered that he had kept a shard of his broken hope. Taking the bandages off he saw that the wound was still fairly new as blood still seeped from it staining the once pure white sheets he laid on.

The cut was fairly deep so it looked like he would be sporting a brand new scar to add to his collection. To him this scar was more important to him than the one that made him famous. His hand tightened into a fist causing more droplets of blood to fall onto the already stained sheets.

"I see that you're awake Mr. Potter," a voice said.

Looking towards the doorway Harry saw that it was the headmaster. A bright smile was on his face while the his eyes twinkled even with the no light to cause it.

"Sir.." Harry said not quite sure what the Headmaster was doing here so late at night.

The man walked towards Harry's bedside and put a hand on his bloody fist.

"It seems you've been through a lot this evening, Mr. Potter."

Harry could only nod as he didn't know how to explain how he was even put in that situation.

"I owe you an apology for what has transpired here tonight," The man said with a sad tone of voice "I would never have expected that a mountain troll would be able to enter the school grounds and was unaware of its danger, for that I apologize for the danger you were put in."

Harry was at a loss for words, he didn't blame the man. He only nodded accepting the apology. The headmaster happy that his apology was accepted was about to leave but was stopped.

"Sir," Harry said causing the man to turn back to the injured boy "can I ask you something?"

"Of course my boy, what is it you need?"

Harry opened his mouth but found no words coming out. He didn't know how to ask. He didn't know what to say. They were dead and he knew that but they were there. He didn't know.

"M-my parents.." the only thing that could come out his mouth. "I-i saw them."

Professor Dumbledore didn't say anything and only looked at him, this time without a twinkle or a smile on his face. It was eerie in a way not seeing any emotion on the mans face but Harry, at this point, didn't care too much. He just wanted answers.

Taking out his wand he drew up letters in the air leaving behind _'__Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohs'_

Harry stared at the floating jumble of words and it hit him. It was the words written on the mirror.

"Sir," Harry asked with a bit of desperation in his voice "what does it mean?"

"I presume that you encountered a mirror during the events that led you to your current situation, am I correct?" To which Harry nodded to.

Sighing wearily the man explained to him everything.

"I show not your face but your heart's desire. The words written on the Mirror of Erised."

Then Harry realized that the words written wasn't just a bunch of random letters put together but that the words were merely backwards.

"The Mirror of Erised is a magical mirror that doesn't show just your reflection but what you want most in the world."

Harry understood, but he wasn't happy about it. What was shown in front of him was just a trick, an illusion. The emotions that came with such an image made Harry even more angry. Taking the shard of what was left of the mirror out of his pocket Harry held it in his hands glaring at what it represented. Grasping the shard tighter, causing the wound on his hand to bleed even more, he threw the shard against the wall causing it to shatter into even tinier pieces.

Professor Dumbledore could only watch with sadness as the young boy struggles with the emotions raging within him. It was truly a sad experience to go through. From what he could understand the boy saw his dead parents within the mirror, only to have it be taken away from him once more. Life was surely cruel to Harry Potter.

"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that," Dumbledore said causing Harry to look at him. Once again taking out his wand Dumbledore wordlessly casted a spell on the shards of glass that laid on the floor causing it to float and come together once again to form as one. The tiny pieces meld together to form a small circular shape no bigger than a galleon. "But sometimes we need those dreams to live."

Plucking the floating round glass from the air he handed it to Harry who held it in his hands.

"Goodnight, Mr. Potter" the Headmaster said as he exited the room.

Harry looked at the piece of glass and his eyes widened. Inside the tiny melded glass was the same image he saw in the mirror. A beautiful woman with clear green eyes and beautiful red locks holding the hand of a man with messy black hair and glasses while waving at him. As fast as the image appeared it disappeared just as quickly.

Letting a few tears fall down his face Harry smiled and allowed the anger that he felt earlier dissipate.

It's been a few months since the events that unfolded during the Halloween feast. The Hogwarts rumor mill was at an all time high the day Harry was allowed to leave the infirmary. The rumors of him slaying the troll might be true but the details that went along with wasn't so much.

Tales of his deeds ranged from him talking the creature into retreating. to something ridiculous like fighting the creature with nothing but his bare hand. Truly the things people would believe from the word of a stranger astounded Harry.

Harry sighed as he walked along the path to the quidditch pitch while Lee talked animately next to him. With the last quidditch match before the up coming Christmas vacation, everyone was in great spirit.

Harry wasn't really that interested in quidditch. The sport relied too heavily on one man to win the game. The game does seem intense and exciting but the whole thing just seemed too simple for Harry's liking.

"Ohh, we're going to destroy Slytherin today!" Lee exclaimed with a big smile on his face.

"They won't know what hit 'em! The team is stacked this year. With the girls offense and Wood's as captain this year, I'm sure we'll win the cup!"

Harry had seen the team practice before, since the majority of his closest friend played for the team anyways. They were pretty good, from what he could deduce. The chemistry was definitely there since pretty much everyone was friends with each other but the trust the players had with one another and talent each player had made the team a strong and fluid machine.

"10 galleon's say that Slytherin win's easily." A voice from behind the two of them said, causing the pair to turn around. Behind them with a smirk on his face was Draco Malfoy and his ever faithful gorilla's standing behind him. What made Harry raise his eyebrow though was the two girls that stood to Draco's left.

The one girl he hadn't met before. She wore the same Slytherin robes like the rest of them. She was slightly taller than Draco but only by hair. She had light hazel eyes that seem to change colors ever so slightly with the way the the sun reflected on them. Her wavy brown hair was pulled back by a green headband that showed off her pretty face. The girl had a cheerful smile on her face, a look that was hardly seen on any Slytherin. The usual Slytherin facial expression usually corresponded with an negative emotion making the grin look more foreign.

The other girl, Harry had already met a couple times before. Her cold blue eyes showed no emotion as she looked to her left as if the confrontation was beneath her.

"I even bet that one lion won't be finishing the game conscious." Draco said as the two boy's behind him laughed.

Lee scowled at the remark, "Move along little Malfoy."

Draco glared at the boy for the 'little' comment causing Lee to smile at how easy it was to anger the young Slytherin.

"Shut your mouth Jordan," the two boys behind him clenching their fists in a threatening manner, "before you say something you'd regret."

Lee was about to respond back but was cut off by the girl with the green headband.

"Now, now little Draco," the girl started with a teasing smile causing Draco to flush with embarrassment, "there's no need for such threatening behavior."

To Harry's surprise Draco mumbled a begrudging sorry causing the girl to pet the boy as if he was a child that did good. Draco swatted at her hand causing the girl to giggle. Turning towards Harry she extended a hand.

"Tracy Davis," she introduced "It's nice to finally meet you Harry Potter."

Harry stared at the hand for a second before hesitantly shaking it.

"It's nice to meet you too." Harry said keeping his eyes locked into hers.

"I believe you've already met my friend here," she said gesturing to Daphne who was still looking away as if anything but the confrontation was more interesting. Harry nodded yes causing the girl to smile even brighter.

"I like your necklace," Tracy said reaching over and grasping the jewelry that hung on Harry's neck.

It was the melded up fragments of what was left of the Mirror of Erised. Since coming out of the infirmary Harry had made it into a necklace and hasn't taken it off since. The tiny mirror had been a source of another set of rumor that had surfaced once everyone noticed it. The infirmary was the last time Harry had seen his parents within the necklace. The only thing it showed now was the reflection of who ever stared into it.

Tracy's eyes widened for barely a second as she looked into the piece of jewelry but it happened so fast Harry thought he was just seeing things.

"Interesting," Tracy said letting go of the necklace "I like you Harry!" The girl exclaimed.

Throwing her arm over his shoulder she led him towards the quidditch pitch with Daphne following shortly behind. Harry struggled but found his efforts to be futile so he just allowed the girl to lead him leaving behind a gawking Lee and Draco.

As they walked students gave them weird looks, not used to a Gryffindor with a Slytherin. Harry just scowled at the situation and kept his mouth shut.

The girl continued to grin widely as she led the boy around.

Once they were in front of the stadium Tracy finally released Harry causing the boy to take a step back and glare at her, which only serve to make her smile more if that was even possible.

"Well thank you for the company Harry," Tracy said brightly "I'm sure we'll see you around!"

Taking Daphne's hand Tracy and her made their way towards the Slytherin stands while Harry just shook his head and waited for Lee to catch up.

Harry sat in a sea of red and gold with his fellow peers in the Gryffindor section of the Quidditch pitch stands. The pitch sported three fifty foot poles with hoops on them at each end of the five hundred foot pitch. The Stadium was also elevated so that the spectators could have better views of the game from an elevated position.

Suddenly, the crowd began to cheer wildly as seven players - each wearing mainly red colored Quidditch robes - came walking out of the changing rooms. The one in the lead - obviously their captain - was Oliver Wood. Leading his team out to the pitch as they lined up with their brooms in hand near the referee, Madam Hooch, awaiting their opponents.

The cheers almost instantly changed to jeers and sounds of disapproval, completely drowning the cheers given by the Slytherin house. The captain, a boy Harry didn't recognize, led his team out to face the Gryffindors.

The two captains shook hands before Hooch released the golden snitch into the sky before releasing the bludgers. Finally, she picked up the Quaffle and flew up into the air with it under her arm, only to release it and start the game.

Like rockets, the Slytherin Chasers shot towards the Quaffle, taking it as their own and began their advance on the Gryffindor goal. One of the Slytherin chasers performed an impressive feint and allowed the Quaffle to pass him straight into the Slytherin captain's hands. He flew at the goal that was being guarded by Wood and pulled his arm back to make a shot only to fake it and pass to his completely open Chaser team mate who had no opposition and put the Quaffle through the hoop.

10 - 0 to Slytherin.

Harry saw Tristan Smith, the Seventh year seeker for Gryffindor, circling the pitch from above, probably looking for the golden Snitch.

The match didn't get much better for the Gryffindors from there with the Slytherin chasers flying rings around the Gryffindor teams. Smith had spotted the snitch four times already, but with clever usage of the bludgers from the Slytherin beaters and careful maneuvering on Flint's, Slytherin's captain, part, they were able to cut off all of his attempts to capture or even come close to the snitch while continuously scoring more and more goals.

The score was now 80 - 30 to Slytherin, the Gryffindor keeper seemed to be inexperienced, but not exactly bad.

"Wood's doing pretty well out there," Harry said to Lee, not taking his eyes off of the game, "considering Slytherin could be up almost 250 already had he not made those saves."

Lee shrugged, "Who cares? I'm just watching the girls fly - OOOH! WHAT A NICE AS-!" the boy was cut off by Professor McGonogall with a cry of 'Mr. Jordan!" that had the whole stand laughing as Harry shook his head.

Harry continued to watch as Slytherin's zone defense kept the Gryffindor chaser's at bay. It was clear that the girls were much more talented on the broom and should the game be a fair one on one then the score wouldn't be in Slytherin's favor. Unfortunately the rough play of the Slytherin players and the quick coverages had the Gryffindor chasers rattled.

"Why do you care about the Seekers so much?" Harry asked his friend, watching as Slytherin defended their goals with a perfect zone defense, not allowing the Gryffindors a clear shot at the goal. "Sure, they can win the match if they catch the Snitch, but Flint is making sure that doesn't happen while he tallies up the score for Slytherin. If things go the way they are, even if Smith catches the snitch, they still won't win."

Lee stopped his commentating and covered the mic to answer Harry's question. "That's true, in school games the game is most likely decided by the seeker." He began ""on the professional and international levels, it's more of a tactical game and while the seekers are in a position to lead each other around, players like Flint have a much greater impact on the game because they can interact with all of the players on the field and still do their job," he explained, as if reciting from a book.

Harry nodded at the logic. He figured Lee was just a big Quidditch fan he didn't think that the boy knew so much knowledge about the inner workings of the game. "If that's the case then wouldn't that suggest that a professional chaser is more important that a professional seeker?" Harry asked. "Then why are they valued and fawned over when they aren't necessarily the most important players?"

"No one said they weren't," Lee responded, "The game ends when the Seeker catches the snitch, so, obviously, they would be the star attraction," he lectured. "Also, in doing so they score the equivalent of fifteen goals in points which is usually only equaled by a combination of three players working together," he said. "Then there's the battles between the two Seekers and how they can disrupt plays, which is much more common on a professional level."

As if reading his thoughts, Smith swooped down and swatted away a pass that would have had Flint in the open to score another goal towards his own team mate before returning to circle the pitch.

"Okay, but given all of that, what do you think would be more valuable to a professional team, a world-class Chaser with good teamwork with his fellow chasers or a world-class Seeker?"

Lee stopped watching and commentating the game all together and turned to his friend in interest. "Why do I get the feeling that my answer to this question will have serious repercussions for the Wizarding World and the world of Quidditch?" he asked causing Harry to grin.

Lee seemed to think for a bit with a calculative gleam in his eyes before answering. "A world-class Seeker will always be more fun to watch, mainly because of their aerial acrobatics and fast paced battles, but a world-class chaser can control a game much more easily with the assistance of his two other chasers and seeing as how Quidditch games on professional levels are played in a series of who scored most points, the Chasers would probably be more important," he answered, "and hypothetically, if say, someone I knew wanted to play Quidditch, and that someone was really good at football, they would make more then a decent Chaser, especially if, hypothetically again, that person was a good centerfielder and was used to controlling the tempo of a game...hypothetically of course" he finished with a grin.

Harry chuckled, "It's midfielder you git," he said, but he didn't correct his friend.

The game ended with the score of 210 - 200 with Slytherin barely winning. Even with Smith catching the snitch the defense and offense the Slytherin chasers exhibited was too much for the less experiences Gryffindor chasers.

The days passed by with Christmas just around the corner. Students who were leaving to return home for the yule break had just left while Harry and opted to stay along with the Weasley Twins. Lee, Alicia, Katie, and Angelina had left to go spend the holiday with their family but not before wishing the boys a merry Christmas.

The holiday flew by with Harry and the twins mostly pranking the remaining professors that stayed and flying around the quidditch pitch. It was the happiest Christmas break Harry had ever had.

On Christmas morning the twins dragged Harry out of bed at the crack of dawn so they could open up their presents. This was the first time Harry received presents on Christmas so naturally he too was very excited.

Harry started out with opening a present from the girls and was very pleased when he recieved an assortment of candies and other sweets. Lee had given him a new book called _'Quidditch through the Ages'_ which he liked very much.

The next present was a box from the twins. He looked at the two with apprehension, not quite sure if he should expect to be covered in paint should he open the present. The two merely smiled at him innocently to which he just snorted and uncovered the box.

Thankfully nothing exploded and covered him with anything. Peering into the box he found a picture of him and his friends having breakfast and just laughing. Giving both guys a hug and a thanks he was met with full blown laughter.

Puzzled at the boys reaction the looked down and saw that his skin had turned pink. Grumbling at the prank, he should have expected that something like that would have happened.

Returning to his gifts once he turned back to his orginial skin color he was met with surprise that he had received a sweater made by the twin's mother as well.

The last present however was what Harry liked the most, it was wrapped up in a thick brown paper with only a small note attached to it. He opened it and found a very big cloak, but when he put it on Harry had found that he had turned invisible. They quickly figured out that this was an invisibility cloak which were very rare and priceless, Harry looked for a name on the present but only found the small note with a sentence written on it. It read:

_This was given to me by your father just before his death. It's time I returned it to its rightful owner. Use it well._

Harry couldn't be more happy, for the first time he had something that belong to his parents. For years he had dreamed of something that would tie him with them and now he had a fantastic invisibility cloak.

Harry then spend a lovely day with the rest of the people who stayed at Hogwarts and they even had dinner at the teachers table with the professors. Harry asked several questions to Prof. McGonagall and Flitwick about Transfiguration and Charms, he even asked a few questions about his parents which they happily answered.

**Author's Note**

**Hey guys! It didn't really take me long to finish this chapter just because I really want to get the first year over with. I always found the first couple years to be slow so bear with me. I'd move the story faster but I feel like I should keep going at this pace just to establish some character connections so things aren't rushed. Now I know most of my chapters are not beta-ed, along with this one, so if anyone is will to volunteer that would be very much appreciated. I've yet to start the next chapter so who knows when that'll come out, it could be ****tomorrow or it could be a couple weeks. So if you'd like to help beta this fic just proof read my chapters and I'll have the new chapter for you to go over once its ready. Anyways I hope you guys like this chapter, and the way the story's developing so far!**

**Don't forget to leave me a Review and let me know what you think!**


	8. AN

**Important Author Note**

**Hey guys! Sorry to say that this messages isn't the happiest of news. Now I've expressed my want in finishing this story, and while it's far from done, I feel like I should put this on a long pause. I've read over my work and I find myself a bit disappointed in my writing. I can see that it has a good basis but I just feel like it lacks character, ****_soul, _****to make it better and as captivating as some of the stories that I've read that made me branch out and attempt my own work. Now I'm not saying that I've given up on this story because I have a vision that I'd like to accomplish with this story but for now I don't have the experience to give my vision justice. Once I feel like I'm capable of doing this story then I'll return to it but for now I have a new story in mind. It's a little less difficult to write so it should be of better quality. It should come out within the next few days so expect that to have my main attention.**

**Thanks for the support and I hope you all check it out********once it comes out!**


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